Lost Love
by ShieldMaid4JC
Summary: Danny and Sam haven't seen each other in four years, Sam fears she will never see him again, until a phone call from another old friend takes her down the road that she swore she would never go back down. Chapter 28 is up!
1. The Difference

Prologue

_Far into the west coast, lay a decimated land. Debris and metal shards are all that is left of this once thriving town..., Amity Park. Fires burn in the distance never to be put out, and standing in the midst of the chaos, are two lovers, some of the only survivors. A young man, of only seventeen, his ragged, unkempt, ebony hair hangs low in his pale face, shrouding his tear-filled azure eyes, his serrated black and orange jumpsuit stained with the marks of battle; the woman standing next to him, about seventeen herself, just barely reaching his height, equally worn, her dark hair, hanging limply just past her shoulders, shreds of dark fabric what once were her clothing hang about her thin figure, her lavender eyes containing a stare of disbelief, hatred even. Her high- pitch shrill of anger echoes throughout the desolate town._

"_I hate you Daniel Fenton, I hate you and I never want to see you again," the young adolescent woman screams at the trembling young man standing before her._

_Daniel or Danny, as he was better known, hangs his head in defeat. _

"_Please Sam, I never meant for this to happen...," he begins, wrapping his arms around her as she sobs._

_"Don't you dare touch me," she warns, seething as she pulls away from his embrace, "...just go."_

_"But Sam I ..." he begins again, but she cuts him off._

_"Save it for someone who cares!" _

_With those words she runs from him, bent on putting as much distance between him and her as humanly possible. She has no intention of ever encountering him again; he had hurt her and there was nothing that he could do, nothing that he could say that would ever change what he had done. _

Chapter 1- The Difference

Twenty-one year old Sam Manson's mauve eyes snapped open, met by the blinding morning light. As she tried to calm her breathing, Sam surveyed her surroundings. The room was barely lit, but sunlight was streaking through her heavy black curtains, highlighting the worn, dark lilac walls of the room. Soft, crimson- colored blankets lay strewn about in a torrential mess on the dark navy, leather couch she had been sleeping on, a testament to the battle she had fought to stay asleep the night before. Although she had not meant to, she dreamed of him again, try as she might, for the past four years she had not been able to keep her mind off of him. She knew that she should have hated him; he had stood back and watched as their home slowly began its descent towards darkness. Before he could stop it, it had fallen under the control of a band of rogue spirits, their commander was none other than Vlad Plasmius, his archenemy. He had watched as most of their family, and their friends had been captured and most likely, killed. After their last fight, he simply disappeared, out of her life forever. Yet despite all this, she still loved him.

In her heart she knew that she had not meant the words that she had so blindly spat at him all those years ago, but nonetheless, she had said them, he had gone for good, and she could never take them back. The phone at her side rang, and sluggishly; she turned to answer it, if only to stop its incessant beckoning.

"Hello," she muttered groggily, trying to wake herself up enough to focus.

"Sam..." a familiar voice rang from the other end of the line.

"Danny..." she questioned, her spirits rising to a crescendo.

"No Sam... It's Tucker."

Reality banged on the doors of her tortured mind like an unwelcome visitor, he was never coming back.

"What's going on with you," she somehow managed to mutter, after snapping herself forcefully away from her thoughts.

"Sam, you're not going to believe this, I'm at Vlad's mansion..., with Danny."

She nearly dropped the phone in her disbelief.

"Tucker is this a joke, because if it is it's not funny!"

"Sam why would I lie to you about something like this," he questioned, sounding hurt that she would even ask him something like that.

"May I talk to him?"

"Sure Sam."

Sam heard rustling as Tucker got Danny on the phone. The minute she heard his voice, Sam could have sworn that her heart had skipped a beat.

"Sam...Is it really you," she heard his familiar, loving voice ask at the other end of the line.

"Danny..." her voice trailed, she was at a loss for words.

"Yes?"

"I'm Sor..."

Her voice was cut off by the deafening roar of a sudden explosion. Then, the line went dead.

"Danny? Danny... Are you there," she called out to him, praying that he would answer her desperate plea.

The only answer she received was silence. Dropping the phone she frantically, rushed upstairs to her room. Once she arrived, she dove underneath her bed, withdrawing a long, cardboard box. Rising, she carefully lifted the lid. Concealed within that box were items that she had not dared to touch in four years... her ghost hunting equipment. After spending several minutes sifting her way through an array of weapons, she finally found the one that she was looking for. Gingerly, she strapped the Fenton Bazooka to her side. Knowing that speed was of the essence, she ran to her Thunderbird, the speed demon of the day. She had to find him; thankfully, she knew exactly where to look.

For hours she barreled down numerous back alleyways heading towards Madison, Wisconsin. Her mind reeled, silently; she prayed that she would not be too late. Hours later, she had reached a familiar street. Something was wrong, very wrong. With terror, she saw that the sky was ablaze with fire, the airless smoke leading her to Vlad's stately manor. Panicked, she reached for her cell phone and reported the emergency. Shivering with fear, she climbed out of her car, and waited rather impatiently.

Within minutes, scores of fire rescue squad cars and trucks pulled up to the property. Helplessly, Sam looked on as they entered the blaze searching for any survivors. The longer the search took, the more apprehensive she became. Finally, with a rush of relief, she saw a group of paramedics immerge from the blaze, bringing two loaded stretchers with them. Torn, she ran for the one that she knew carried the only man that she could ever love.

He had been scarred beyond recognition; ugly, blackened burns covered his body. Tears sprang from her eyes, mixing with the blood that was now flowing freely from his open blisters. Sobbing, she wrapped her arms gently around his fragile body, not wanting to let go. However, seconds later she found herself being pulled away from him by a harsh voice by her side.

"Excuse me Miss, but we need to get going," the voice said. Sam turned to find a gruff, dirty-blonde haired, brown-eyed, lightly tanned paramedic prodding her gently.

Obediently, she pulled herself away and climbed into the back of the ambulance. It was then that her thoughts began to race mercilessly. In silence, she watched as they tried desperately to save his life. Once they had arrived at the hospital, Danny was rushed into emergency surgery, and she was told to wait outside in the waiting room, after being handed a stack of paperwork. For three hours she waited, and they were the longest three hours of her life. She did her best to stay patient as she waited, as her emotions began to get the best of her. Finally, hours later, a man clad in green surgical scrubs with tied, raven hair, and heavy laden sea-green eyes walked up to her shaking form. He was the very picture of utter exhaustion. His tanned face was etched with concern.

"Yes," Sam muttered inaudibly.

"Are you Miss Manson?" he asked. Slowly, she nodded.

"Well, I thought you might like to know that we have managed to successfully stop the internal bleeding. He's awake and you may see him now," he said motioning to the third door on the left side of the hallway.

When she entered the room she was shocked at what she saw. There lay her Danny, hooked up to all sorts of monitoring machines and tubes, deathly pale, covered from head to toe in the gauze that dressed his wounds. She felt the urge to cry, but she did her best to fight it, biting back the tears that were nipping at her face as she approached his bedside.

"Danny," she whispered, holding his hand tightly, he did not stir, the monitors at his side set off in a rhythmic pattern. There was not much that she could do except, wait, so she did. For countless hours she sat there contemplating the situation.

"Danny, can you hear me," she asked for the forty – eighth time in the past four hours. He still did not stir. Over the next few days nothing changed, and Sam lost her resolve; she did not have any hope for his survival. She cursed herself for thinking this way knowing that he would never give up on her this easily, but she knew that it could not be helped. In all honesty, under normal circumstances, she would have been relieved if he did not make it through this, she would rather him die a restful, painless death, then to have to watch him suffer, but then there was the fight, the fight that they had never resolved, and she knew that she would never forgive herself if it stayed that way.

Inspectors had tried to talk to her, to get her to tell them what had happened, but she could not have told them if she wanted to, she was unsure of what really happened herself. However, one thing was for certain, it was Vlad's fault and he was going to pay for everything that he had put her through. _No, _she thought to herself, _it's not what he would have wanted._ For days, she starved off the feeling of finality, but it was beginning to seem inevitable.

Three weeks into the ordeal, Dr. Manning, Danny's primary physician told Sam that his chances for survival were a million to one. Five days after that, Danny's health took a spiraling turn for the worst. Sam was distraught; she did not want to lose him, not like this. Day in and day out the dedicated staff worked feverously to save his life, but in the end, it was not enough, there was nothing that they could do, so they stopped trying and focused more on making him comfortable through what would certainly be the last days of his life. On a Thursday morning, four and a half weeks after the accident, it was official. It was time for the final goodbye.

When she once again entered his cubicle, her mind raced. Slowly, the medical staff dwindled, allowing her to be alone with him. His consciousness had been regained, but he was quickly succumbing to the pull that he had been fighting for so long. Tears flooded her eyelids. None of this was supposed to happen. Life had been so unfair to her, they were supposed to make up for the past, marry, start a family and then grow old together; she was not supposed to be thinking about what she was going to say at his funeral.

Nevertheless, there she was, the past could not be changed no matter how much she wished that it could. So, resigned, setting herself down on the metal chair beside his bedside, she moved to hold his hand. Before Sam knew what had hit her, she was crying, again. Minutes later, her tears were interrupted by a strong hand brushing her back. As she wiped the tears from her eyes, she looked up to find the source of that sudden disturbance, and what she saw startled her. It was Danny. His bright blue eyes stared at her with longing. He wanted to tell her that he was sorry, that he forgave her for running out on him all those years ago, but his words failed him as any attempt at speech only ended in fits of hacking coughs.

Suddenly, cackling, maniacal laughter interrupted their serenity. Turning, they saw Vlad Plasmius.

"So, you survived, well I suppose I'm just going to have to fix that."

"Over my dead body, Plasmius," Sam screamed disgustedly, standing protectively over Danny.

"That can be arranged," Vlad sneered coldly.

With those words, Sam's world faded into darkness. Hours later, she awoke groggily. For several, long, drawn- out minutes, she waited for her vision to clear. As it slowly did, she found that she was on the floor in Vlad's living room. Immediately, her heart went out to Danny. _Where was he? _Her question was answered with a painful moan echoing down the hall. Dazed, she rose from the floor, and ran towards the voice. It leads her to Vlad's secret lab. Just as she suspected, there she found Danny. He was now unconscious; his weakened form was chained against the back wall. Not even pausing to consider the imminent danger in doing so, she ran for him. Then, she tried to loosen the chains that bound his wrists and ankles. After failing considerably, Sam let out a cry of frustration, but she was not about to give up. Using everything she had, she pounded her fists on them once again, and this time, they bucked. Several minutes later, they broke off with a loud snap. Its sound rumbled throughout the entire chamber sending chills of fear up her spine.

Gently, she lowered him to the ground. She shook him furiously, attempting to pull him from his unconscious state. Several minutes passed before she finally received a groan in response. Slowly, Danny pried his crystal blue eyes open. Sam's tear- stricken lavender eyes stared at him lovingly. Tentatively, he opened his mouth to speak, but she shushed him, gently putting her hand over his mouth.

"Shh... we need to get out of here," she cooed, "Do you think that you can stand," she asked, receiving only an incoherent muffle in reply. Carefully, she attempted to raise him to his feet. As she did this they fell unsteadily from underneath him, and he gasped in pain.

"I tried to tell you..." he muttered in a low, pain-filled voice. "Both legs have been broken."

For a moment, they sat in silence as Sam tried to gather her thoughts and think of a new plan. Finally, she knew exactly what to do. She did the only thing that she could do. Taking great care, she lifted him into her arms, as if she were a groom lifting his bride over the threshold. Briefly, she took the time to assess the situation, she looked down. Danny lay peacefully in her grasp, battered, bruised, and broken, she needed to find help fast. Determined, she ran towards the door that she had entered through.

Before they left that torture chamber however, she dropped a small explosive that she had set to go off in forty minutes. This being done, she ran as fast as her petite legs would carry her. Once they were a safe one and three fourths of a mile outside the mansion, Sam lowered Danny to the ground, before allowing herself to collapse with exhaustion beside him. Slowly, she turned to face him. Fresh cuts blossomed from his face, which was covered in dust. His dark brunette hair had lost its usual sheen; it was now little more than a disheveled mess. He stared at her, his deep cobalt eyes, hidden beneath half closed lids. The sight was enough to tear at Sam's already fragile heart strings.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a deafening explosion. Instinctively, she used her body to shield Danny from the stray wreckage, as it flew over their heads. Once the roar had died down, Sam warily lifted her head. With shock she saw before her burning timbers, the remains of Vlad's once proud estate. She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the possibility of surviving an explosion of that magnitude would be nothing short of miraculous. Satisfied, she turned her attention back towards Danny. His small, shallow breaths were the only thing reassuring her that he was still alive at that point.

She lifted him into her arms once again, striding blindly towards the nearby road. Startled, Sam felt him move ever so slightly in her arms. Minutes later, his eyes shot open. He moved about frantically, and Sam almost dropped him in his panic.

"Get away from me, get away from me you monster," he yelled.

Gently, Sam shook him.

"It's alright Danny, it's over, it's just me," she whispered, desperately trying to calm him.

His eyes continued to dart around their surroundings in pure terror.

Finally, Sam understood, he was not having a hallucination, this was real.

"What is it Danny," she questioned, beginning to get frantic.

"It's him," he muttered almost angrily.

"Who," Sam asked, still confused.

"Vlad," he cried before going limp in her grasp.

Fearfully, Sam followed where his gaze had been staring. Sure enough, there stood the villain himself. There was something different about him though, something that Sam could not put her finger on. He should have been dead, she knew that and it frightened her, but then she noticed something even more disquieting.

In all her years of being involved with the conflict between him and Danny she had never seen his expression filled with so much hate before. The deep maroon eyes of his ghostly form held no human emotions, only the desire to kill. It was then that she knew. Vlad Masters the man, was gone, in has place was left the macro-villain, Vlad Plasmius, who had been robbed of every ounce of humanity he had left, his morals being soon to follow.

Riddled with pain, Danny awoke and stood to face his foe. He stumbled, ignoring the blinding pain that shot from his battered legs, threatening to bring him down. Despite all this he persevered. Startled, he felt a hand grab his arm. Sharply, he turned around. It was Sam. Though her voice had failed her, she silently begged him not to fight, knowing that the outcome was not likely to be in his favor.

Danny continued to stand firm, this was his and Plasmius' fight alone, and Sam had undeservedly been dragged into it, and could have been killed, all because of Plasmius, and he was going to pay.

"You've crossed the line Plasmius," Danny yelled, stepping forward cautiously.

"I wasn't aware that there was any line to be crossed," Vlad sneered.

"It's over Plasmius," Danny bellowed back.

"That's what you think," Vlad said, grinning evilly.

"Danny, look out" Sam screamed, but it was too late.

Swiftly, Danny turned towards the sound of her concerned voice, just in time to see Plasmius' double standing behind him, holding in his hands a rather large medieval looking sword. Before Danny could react, Plasmius plunged the sword deep into his chest, twisting it harshly as he pulled it out. An earth shattering scream pierced the air coming from Danny as he was overcome with blinding pain. Sam was torn between her desire to help Danny and tear Vlad limb from limb. Within minutes Danny lost what strength he had and fell to the ground...hard.

"Now it's over," Vlad sneered confidently, calmly walking over to where Danny had fallen, intent on finishing him off.

It was with that realization that Sam was able to snatch herself from her stupor. In pure fury, she ran towards Plasmius, unarmed save her fists, and a hate for him so extreme that it nearly blocked out every last moral she had. She flung herself on him, but he caught her in mid-air, flinging her aside effortlessly, as if she were only a speck of dust, an irritant to be removed. This being done, he turned his attention to what he had been doing in the first place.

He raised the sword once again, but the blow never fell. Shaking herself awake, Sam threw herself on Vlad once again, with the force of a hurricane, knocking him flat off his feet. Rage singed through her being as she attacked Vlad with as much viciousness as her weakened body would allow her to muster. After several minutes of releasing years of blind hatred and rage Sam then remembered the crisis at hand. Speedily, she ran to where Danny had fallen.

As she ran, she heard a sickening crunch beneath her; she broke her stride, not knowing what had happened. Fearfully, she looked below her. What met her was someone that she could scarcely recognize as human. His face was unnaturally pale; eyes sealed tightly, dirt-filled raven colored hair hung on his forehead. Blood ran from his chest, staining his plain white t-shirt. However unrecognizable he may have been, Sam immediately knew who it was, it was Danny. Panicked, Sam kneeled to the ground, reached for his neck, and searched for the pulse that she so desperately needed to feel. It was there, but it was faint.

"Danny... come on, get up, he's gone," Sam pleaded. He groaned in response, giving Sam at least some hope. With joy, she saw his eyes slowly open. Gently, she stroked his soiled hair.

"I'm going to get you out of here," she whispered, lifting him into her arms.

A cry of pain, immerged from his throat, but did not escape his cracked lips. Running as quickly as she dared Sam found herself on the side of the old abandoned road that she had originally been looking for. Gently, she lowered Danny to the ground, she had to think. Minutes passed, marked only by the rapid repetition of Danny's pain-filled breaths.

Finally, Sam heard the distant rumble of an approaching vehicle. She looked up to find, a black Chevrolet Silverado speeding towards them in the darkness. Sam rose quickly, and darted into the road, waving her arms in a desperate attempt to get the driver's attention. The truck lurched to a screeching halt, a mere ten feet before it would have hit Sam. Its driver climbed out of the truck and ran over to Sam. He was a middle- aged man, he stood at a towering six foot five, his pale complexion offsetting his dark olive turtleneck, and the blue jeans that covered his lower half were torn in odd places. Shaggy brunette hair was under his blue trucker hat.

"Are you out of your mind," he reeled, storming towards her. "You're going to get yourself killed standing in the middle of a road like that. What's wrong with you," he asked, concerned.

"It's not me, it's my friend, he's been attacked," she replied, out of breath, leading him to where Danny had been laid.

"What have you two been doing," the man asked, but Sam could not answer him, as she was focusing all her attention on Danny. "Alright, come with me" he muttered, still staring at Danny, shocked.

He seemed to be weakening. It was only a matter of time before it was going to be too late to save him.

"I don't mean to be rude, but we need to go," Sam echoed softly, finding her voice long enough to break him out of his daze.

"Right," the man uttered, climbing into the front of truck after helping Sam get Danny in the back.

"Name's Joe, by the way," Joe commented, trying to break the silence.

"Sam and this Danny," she grunted lowly, pointing to his still form in the back of the truck.

"So Sam, do you mind telling me what you and your little friend here where doing on the side of the road at this time of night?"

"It's a long, personal story," Sam explained.

"We have the time," Joe replied flippantly, staring at the green fluorescent clock that was on the dashboard.

Sam sighed, he had her. So for forty five minutes, Sam told Joe the whole story, trying to stay as impersonal as possible, and by the time she was finished, Joe had found a hospital. He was about to leave Sam at the front of the hospital when he realized that in the state she was in it was probably better if he went with her, so he walked her to the front information booth as she held Danny firmly in her arms. As calmly as she possibly could, Sam explained what had happened. Danny was immediately rushed into the trauma ward, Sam was told to wait outside with Joe still following in toe.

Seconds turned to minutes; minutes turned to hours as Sam filled out all the paper work and still nothing. Finally, a young dark brunette haired, man dressed in a white lab coat and black slacks with dark brown eyes and tanned skin approached them.

"Are you the individuals inquiring about Danny Fenton," he asked. Rising, Sam nodded and Joe simply stood at her side.


	2. Heartbreak and Bad News

Disclaimer (almost forgot) - I own no part of Danny Phantom, but this story is my own work.

A/N- I would like to express a sincere and heartfelt thank you to all my reviewers.

"Ms. Ah... Manson I presume, I am Dr. Kampe" he blurted pointedly his voice heavy with a strong German accent as he constantly switched from staring at the chart in his meaty hands to staring at her, "If I may I ask what is your relation to Mr., Ah, Fenton?"

For a few drawn- out minutes, Sam tried to think, she knew that they probably would not tell her anything about him unless he thought that they were somehow related.

"I'm his girlfriend," she spat out quickly as Joe started at her disbelievingly.

"Well, as I'm sure you already know your boyfriend, ah...Danny, was the victim of a stabbing, and he has also suffered major malnutrition. Unfortunately, based on all the factors involved, the chances for his survival are not very great; I suggest that you prepare yourself for the worst."

Wearily, Sam nodded.

"May I see him?" She asked her voice cracking.

"Of course you can, follow me," he replied, gently pushing Joe into the waiting room.

The whole way there, Sam's mind raced.

_Would she ever get the chance to apologize? Was he going to be okay?_

Her thoughts were interrupted by the soft swish of the pale blue gossamer curtains that surrounded Danny's cubicle. When she glanced in Danny's direction, Sam had to bite her lip to keep herself from crying out. Biting back tears, she sank into the worn, aquamarine, soft chair beside Danny. The very sight of him was painful for Sam. A respiration tube was stuck in his throat providing the only noise to break through the barrier of silence surrounding the room as it breathed for him. He was barely recognizable underneath the sea of monitoring machines, bandages and tubes that seemed to drown him. Sam shook as her nerves began to get the best of her. She hated to be this close to him and still not be able to talk to him. There was so much that she felt she need to talk to him about, the fight was first on her mind.

Hours turned into days, days turned into weeks and still, nothing changed.

Three weeks passed, and still Sam sat there, next to her fallen love. It was Monday morning, tears glistened down her cheeks. As much as she had tried to keep herself together, she was failing. Days continued to pass and with their slow repetition, Sam found herself even more hopeful. The situation refused to change, but regardless, it did not get any worse either, and Sam took that as a good sign. She thought that things were preparing themselves to get back to normal, she was wrong.


	3. He's back

That afternoon was an average one, one that began with Sam still waiting, hopeful as ever. To keep her mind on other things (besides Danny) she was watching the news. So far, it was mundane, nothing out of the ordinary and nothing that Sam had not heard before. Then a special report caught her attention. A blonde- haired, sharp looking, reporter came onto the screen, the caption besides her reading

"Paranormal sightings wrack town". Intrigued, Sam turned it up and the woman's shrill voice echoed throughout the silent room.

"Residents of Madison, have been given quite a scare tonight, authorities say that there have been several reports of "ghost sightings", with more on this story we go to Victoria Williams, Victoria?"

"That's right Jenny, now the one thing that seems to make these claims so chillingly intriguing is the fact that no matter who is claiming it when, these reports have all had a certain, soundness to them. Witnesses all say that they have seen a transparent likeness of a vampire- like man, wearing a white cape, having piercing crimson red eyes, white fangs and transparent blue skin, these reports have yet to be verified."

She was lost after their first description, she knew exactly who it was, and it was Vlad. Terrified, Sam now listened more intently as the report continued, moving on to the witnesses. A stout, Latin- seeming woman came on the screen panicking in a light Honduran accent. Sam really could not understand much of what she said but from what she could hear; only one sentence seemed to sift through what little Sam could understand,

"He did not say anything, just said that he was looking for someone, said his name was Daniel Fenton or something like that , I did not know what he was talking about."

"_So he is looking for Danny," _Sam yelled, a bit loud, not realizing that she had been talking out loud.

"Well, you catch on fast, but I'm afraid that it's a little too late" uttered a voice maliciously; a voice that Sam dreaded hearing... it was Vlad. She spun around furiously.

"Vlad, what are you doing here." Sam questioned, preparing for anything.

"Finishing what I started," Vlad spat.

At that minute, completely out of the blue, Sam saw, (out of the corner of her eye), Danny's eyes flutter open. He stared about the room in confusion, and for a moment, he was completely unaware of what was going on. Then, his eyes settled on Vlad.

"How did you find me," Danny asked his voice weaker then he would have liked, as it cracked and squeaked over the tube in his throat.

"That's for me to know and for you to ponder, _little badger."_

_"_What do want Vlad," Danny questioned, hiding the fear in his voice.

"My revenge," Vlad uttered low and chillingly.

Seconds later, Vlad was at Danny's bedside, moving so fast that Sam was powerless to stop him.

"Now, this is going to hurt you much more then it hurts me," he whispered in a false fatherly tone in Danny's ear.

A sickening gag filled the room, along with the mechanical sound of the respiration equipment being removed from Danny's throat. In between Danny's short gasps for the air that he needed that his lungs refused to supply, he had no time to scream. This only made Vlad's evil grin grow wider. Danny's I.V was next to go. Vlad pulled it out roughly, taking no precautions. The wound that it caused bled profusely.

Springing into action, Sam walked towards Vlad, intending to fling herself on him, but he saw her coming, and flung her aside, holding her off. Danny stared at his foe, angrily and attempted to get himself up enough to fight him. Weakly, he stood, facing Vlad, one short step away from collapsing. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Danny allowed himself to become his ghost half- Danny Phantom.


	4. Trouble Unsought

Immediately, Danny felt the pain in his body lessen, dissipating to dull ache. His breath and heartbeat slowed.

"So, Vlad, what do you say, we finish this," Danny muttered.

"Yes, let's," Vlad replied, grabbing Danny by the neck.

Raising him off the ground, Vlad flew upwards, mercifully going intangible as he collided through the roof. Regaining her footing, Sam stood up and ran to the nearest staircase. She knew that people must have stared at her as she rushed down the hallway, but she did not really care all that mattered was Danny.

Painstakingly, she reached the top of the stairwell, and opened the door that would lead her to the roof. Nerve wracked, Sam let herself digest the scene in front of her. Danny was lying on the cold, concrete ground, looking close to lifeless. Whatever fight had ensued it was painfully obvious that Danny had lost.

In that moment Sam decided that she was not going to hang around and just watch anymore, she had to do something, but still she felt inadequate. Soon, her weakness gave way to anger as she rushed toward Vlad.

"_What have you done?" _Sam bellowed, glaring angrily at the old villain.

"Why nothing, I simply gave him what has been coming to him."

Vlad paused briefly, and then looked Sam straight in the eye before he started speaking again.

"However, that still leaves me with the question of what I'm going to do with you," he uttered sinisterly, rushing toward Sam.

Acting on instinct, Sam prepared for whatever Vlad may throw at her. He came at her like a screaming bullet. Fists drawn, he slammed into her. Falling to the ground, Sam felt the breath leave her lungs. Staggering, Sam rose from the ground, and faced Vlad once again, anger clouding her violet eyes. Vlad had managed to grab hold of Sam again and was about to finish her off, when a pitiful moan coming from Danny's direction interrupted him, causing him to let her go. Turning, he saw Danny, struggling to pick himself up off the ground. A low moan escaped his lips as he gasped in pain. He opened his mouth, trying to speak, and for a minute, all that came out was something that sounded like a low grunt, then he found his voice.

"Let her go Vlad, it's me you want," he muttered, now managing to stand feebly on his own. Releasing Sam from the iron grip that he had her in, Vlad started to reply.

"Do you honestly think that you are in any condition to fight _me," _he asked, his voice heavy with pure malice and sickly pride. Grinning devilishly, Vlad continued.

"Oh, come Daniel, it's time you accept it, I have won."

"Not going to happen, you heartless fruit loop," Danny answered, truly annoyed with the older halfa.

Briefly, Vlad cringed at the annunciation of his former nickname, and then continued to eye Danny devilishly. Determined and purposefully ignoring Vlad, Danny limped over to where Sam had fallen. Her body was rigid, suffering from the aftershock of what had been done to her.


	5. Vlad's Revenge cont

His resolve now broken, Danny leaned over her, and although he had tried to prevent it, tears now streamed down his eyes as he lifted her into his muscular arms. Caringly, Danny brushed away the stray ebony lock that had flown in her face. Wearily, Sam began to open her eyes. For a minute, she only glanced at Danny in utter confusion, and then her memory returned. Desperately, she now clutched Danny tightly, not noticing him grimace in pain.

"_Danny," _she yelled, strangling sobs as tears now fell from her eyes as well.

"Shh... I'm here Sam," he uttered, his voice consumed by pain.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, low, her voice weak.

"For what," Danny asked, puzzled.

"For abandoning you," she whispered, as more tears spilled from her eyes.

Danny only stared at her in confusion.

"You never abandoned me, Sam."

"Yes I did, four years ago?"

"Sam, you did what you had to do, but you didn't abandon me," he said smoothly, stroking her face.

"Danny, I need to tell you something."

"What is it Sam," Danny questioned, intrigued.

"I should have told you this a long time ago, but the truth is... I don't hate you, I love you Danny."

Danny stared at Sam briefly shocked.

"We're best friends Danny, its okay if you don't feel the way I do," Sam continued, preparing herself for his answer. Then, it came.

"It's not that Sam, it's just, I really don't know how to say this but, I love you too."

Now, it was Sam's turn to be shocked.

"You do," she whispered fiercely, not hiding her surprise.

His strength was leaving him, and all he had the energy to do was nod.

Unexpectedly, extreme pain shot through his fragile body, radiating from behind. Sam screamed his name as he fell to the ground, loosening his grip on her. Looking up, Sam saw Vlad, standing behind Danny's crumpled form, his right hand still glowing with magenta colored energy.

"Glad that's over," Vlad sneered mockingly.


	6. Evil Unleashed

A/N- Not entirely sure that this is my best work, (it's so short) so please R&R, back 2 the story-

Frantically, Sam gathered Danny pulling him up in her arms, shaking him awake. At last, Sam saw him open his piercing neon green eyes. Struggling, he attempted to pry himself away from Sam's embrace. She would not allow it.

"Sam, I have to stop him, you know that."

Her grip on him loosened ever so slightly as he continued, "I don't have a choice," he muttered. Defeated, Sam let go of him, and watched anxiously as he limped unsteadily towards Vlad.

They fought for an agonizingly long time, either side refusing to give in.

Suddenly, Vlad ceased his fire, and fell to the ground. For a minute it seemed as if he was getting ready to give in. Cautiously, Danny made his way over to Vlad's now still form. Once Danny was no less then ten inches away from Vlad's body, Vlad suddenly drew his hands out from underneath the folds of his cape and withdrew a rather familiar object... the Plasmius Maximus. Using no self restraint he charged it and shocked a rather unprepared Danny. Instantaneously, two rings of bright blue light formed around the halfa's waist, traveling the full distance of Danny's body, leaving Danny Fenton behind. He immediately collapsed to the ground, motionless.

Vlad's eyes crimson red eyes glowed with a malicious intensity as he moved in for the kill.

"Goodbye, little badger."

With those words, Vlad released a powerful ectoplasm blast out from his hands. It traveled aimlessly until it collided directly with its target. Danny screamed, intense pain coursing through his body as the energy crackled over him like bolts of powerful electricity. Then, his screams were silenced, his limbs going slack. Filled with panic, Sam (barely registering what she was doing) ran over to Danny. He looked as though he had been caught in the middle of yet another devastating explosion. His eyes were sealed tightly and burn marks were present all over his body. The strain of overpowering pain was evident in his facial features.

"Danny, don't do this to me, please," Sam whispered, stifling tears. Painfully, Danny opened his eyes in a vain attempt to convince Sam that everything was alright and that he was going to be just fine, he was failing. Raising his hand, he intertwined it with Sam's. The damage done to his body was just too extensive. Even though he tried to push the thought from his mind and convince himself otherwise, he knew that he was not going to be able to live much longer. A pained smile crossed his face as he squeezed Sam's hand, both of them, speechless. Vlad viewed the whole confrontation between the two with sick amusement, knowing that he was the cause of the pain being displayed in front of him, he chuckled. Like a deer alerted to threatening footsteps in an otherwise quiet meadow, Sam's head snapped up. Carefully, Sam laid Danny's head on the ground, promising her return, and rose to face Vlad. Walking stealth fully to his villainous form, her eyes clouded over with the plethora of emotions running through her head and invading her soul. No words could possibly completely describe what she was feeling at that very moment she knew one thing though, she hated Vlad. Her hands twitched with undeniable rage. Then she released viciousness on Vlad that she hoped no one would ever see again. Within a few brief minutes, she had already succeeded in beating him so badly that he had no strength to get up and fight again. Looking down, Sam saw the beaten form of Vlad Plasmius disappear in a swirl of magenta-colored light, and for the first time since this whole ordeal started, Sam smiled. However, her smile instantly vanished as a very familiar pained scream reached her ears. Turning around she ran for where she had last seen Danny's crumpled form, not knowing what she would find there.


	7. Stuck In This Mess Again

Finally, Sam spotted him. Nearly fallen over, Sam skidded to a halt. Danny lay sprawled out on the ground beneath her, bruise ridden with a fresh pool of blood forming beneath him. Filled with determination Sam gingerly scooped him up and ran for the door that she had entered through. When she reached the staircase, Sam stumbled. One step at a time, she managed down one flight of the stairwell.

By the time she reached the door that would lead her to the inside of the hospital, Sam was exhausted. Turning the knob to open the door, Sam stumbled out, Danny's motionless body falling on top of her. Screams resounded throughout the near desolate hallway.

"Help me," Sam whispered to an orderly who was standing transfixed in front of them.

She took one more look at their broken bodies and screamed.

"I need assistance."

Carefully, she pried Danny off from on top of Sam. Like a well-oiled machine more orderlies and doctors swarmed over the two and whisked them away to the trauma ward. As they raced down the hallway, Sam's vision darkened, and she slipped into unconsciousness.

Hours later, Sam awoke to the monotonous beep of machines, and the stale, unpleasant odor of disinfectant. Lazily, Sam's head rolled around, her vision blurring into focus. She found she was in an uninteresting room, its stale white walls only emphasizing its sterile environment. A small T.V was mounted on the wall in front of her. An I.V drip stood next to her supplying needed nutrition and pain medication.

Confusion caused her brow to furrow, she had no idea how or why she was there. Just then a doctor (judging by the looks of him, his plain white lab coat, and the stethoscope that hung around his neck) entered the room. Smiling Sam a sympathetic smile, he went on to more thoroughly examining her.

"Where am I," she questioned him, finding that her voice still worked.

"You are in Fenway Regional Hospital," he replied calmly, continuing his work.

"What happened," she muttered, still confused.

"Well, we were hoping that you could tell us, but it looks like you and your friend were in some kind of a squall."

At the mention of him, Sam's memory returned.

"Danny? Wwwhere is he? How is he," she questioned frantically, her stress level increasing as she prepared to pick herself up and go find him if need be.

Steadily, the doctor managed to hold her down.

"He's safe, he's in the I.C.U.," he paused for a brief moment then continued, "in critical condition."

Sam felt her eyes tear up with his last proclamation.

"May I see him?"

"In time, right now you both need to focus on getting better."

With nothing else to do, Sam nodded. By the end of the week, Sam was at the end of her rope. She had been at the hospital for five days and still had heard nothing. Finally, Sam could not take it anymore; she had to know what was happening to him now. Still feebly stumbling, Sam shifted her way of her skeletal bed. As soon as her feet hit the cold, marble floor beneath her Sam had to hold onto the movable pole that held her I.V. in an iron grip to keep her from falling. Fighting her pain Sam wandered aimlessly throughout the hallways. Then, a gargantuan crimson red sign filled her field of vision; she had reached the I.C.U. Quietly, she opened the door in front of her and was met with another sign, asking visitors to please wash their hands. Obediently, Sam made her way to the bathroom next to her. Feverishly, she scrubbed her hands until she was sure that they were absolutely clean.

When she had finished, Sam entered the unit. As she started to walk further down the hall, Sam felt a hand tap her back.

"Excuse me, may I help you," asked a kindly voice from behind Sam's back.

Turning, Sam found a tall, slim, fair skinned woman with long, flowing black hair, dressed in green scrubs with her piercing green eyes staring at her with concern.

"I hope so; I'm looking for Daniel Fenton?"

"May I ask your relation?"

"I'm his girlfriend."

"Oh, yes, right this way," she replied urgently.

Suddenly, breaking her seemingly endless stride, the doctor stepped in front of a curtain, the label on the wall reading "Bed#3". Before she could even open her mouth, Sam shrugged.

"There is next to nothing that I haven't seen, so if you plan on warning me, don't bother," Sam said dryly.

Nodding solemnly, the doctor pulled aside the curtain.


	8. Love Unanswered

Now, feeling even more light-headed, Sam stumbled and fell into the skeletal metal chair beside him, staring at the sight in front of her. Danny's face had been enveloped in a ventilator. Stitches, bruises and burns from his numerous battles were all over his body. An I.V. was also situated on the back of his hand providing a rather large dose of pain medication. After everything that they had been through, Sam thought that she would have been ready for this, but she was wrong. Before she could stop herself, Sam felt tears cascade down her swollen cheeks, once again.

Weeks passed, and much to Sam's surprise, Danny's condition improved. Soon, he was doing well enough to put in a regular ward. Sam continued to stick by him, sneaking in to visit him whenever she could. Once she was released from the hospital, Sam was forced to consider their future. She knew that she could not leave him, not after this, she loved him and that was that, but now she knew that he felt the same way.

Friday morning came, and Sam decided that she needed to talk to Danny about it.

He had come around again, but he was slipping in and out of consciousness. Seeing him stir for the fifth time that morning, she gripped his good hand tightly, bending over him.

"Danny? Can you hear me?"

"Sam, you're still here," Danny asked, lifting his head slightly in delighted surprise.

"Of course I am," she remarked, puzzled.

A brief moment of silence passed between them. Danny's mind wandered seven years into the past. He remembered their first kiss vividly, although it was not supposed to be a _real _kiss. Her voice resounded in his mind as though her words were spoken just yesterday.

_"Uh, Danny, you didn't think it was a real kiss, did you? _

_"No! Why, did you," _he had asked.

Even though he knew it was not real, he still had enjoyed it. Within that suspended moment in time, Danny discovered Sam was the woman that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, and though as a teenager, he utterly denied it, as an adult, it was pointless. This was it, it was now or never, he had to do something, before she slipped away again.

"Sam, would you do me a favor," Danny questioned, hoping beyond hope that he was not making the biggest mistake of his life.

"For you...anything," she whispered softly.

"When I get out of here, will you marry me?"

Another uncomfortable moment of silence passed between them as Sam considered what Danny had asked her. Countless memories of the embarrassing situations they had landed themselves in as teenagers, and the many years that they had spent enduring their excruciatingly well- placed nickname "lovebirds" came to her mind. In her heart Sam, knew that he was the right man for her, there was no use denying it any more. It was what she had always wanted. Yet, the voice of reason spoke up boldly, bringing up the very question she had been pondering all along. Watching Danny fight deadly, ghostly foes as a friend was hard enough, but as his wife, how would she handle it?

"Sam, answer me," Danny muttered nervously.

Sam's lower lip trembled for a brief moment before she answered him.


	9. The Answer

"I..," she tried, but the words would not escape her lips.

Without a second thought, Sam threw her arms around Danny's neck, and before her brain could comprehend it, she kissed him. It was one kiss, but it was the kiss that held all the fear, passion, and love she had for him, and had been carrying with her over the years. Minutes later, they broke apart, gasping for air. Danny stared at Sam, shocked. Sam's heart leapt into her throat as she finally spoke.

"Of course I'll will, Danny, I love you," she answered after she had found her voice.

A look of pure surprise and joy crossed Danny's face, before he overwhelmed her with his own heart felt kiss.

"Uum hmph," an embarrassed, low grunt echoed from behind them. Turning they saw a tall, slightly overweight man, wearing a lab coat, green scrubs and black stethoscope, with long, flowing auburn hair and brown eyes staring at them, Danny's doctor.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything, Mr. Fenton, I just wanted to let you know that the paperwork is in order, and you're free to go."

Sam and Danny looked at each other at first surprised, but the surprise quickly vanished and was replaced with joy. Thankfully, the police had towed her car to the hospital, so they could leave right away. Then, Sam remembered one thing her vacation time had run out weeks ago, and she knew for a fact that she had lost her job, or at least stood a good chance of losing it, _if_ her employers were feeling understanding. As soon as she came home, she would have to face them, and the impending numerous amounts of debt.

Danny saw the worried glance on her face, and immediately knew what she was thinking.

"Don't worry Sam, we'll figure something out."

"I know," she muttered, slightly unconvinced, but still trusting his judgment.

Without another word, she gently helped Danny off of his bed and into the small, black wheelchair that an orderly had placed by the wall, and headed to the parking garage. The trip to Sam's car was a silent one, neither of them spoke. Ending their breif trip, Sam saw her sleek, black Thunderbird, in the far corner of the garage, when they reached the ground floor. Sam wheeled Danny to the passenger side of the car and carefully lifted him out of the chair, handing it off to the orderly that had come with them, and put Danny in the front seat of her car, then, taking her own seat on the driver's side. Neither of them spoke as Sam barreled down the road that would lead them to the only place that she felt they could go- Fenton Works.


	10. Pure Happiness or is it?

When Sam saw a familiar fluorescent green sign on the left side of the road, she breathed a deep sigh of relief. Parking in front of the two-story red bricked house that the sign was attached to, Sam walked arm and arm with Danny up the stairs, towards the front door of the house, holding Danny's back with her other hand for support. Sharply, she knocked on the door after freeing her hand from Danny's grip. The door opened a crack, and Sam saw a tall, slender red- haired woman, with aquamarine eyes, wearing an oversized black t-shirt and worn blue jeans holding a chubby, lightly blonde haired, brown-eyed baby boy in her arms. For a minute Sam could have sworn that it was Maddie Fenton she was looking at, but then she remembered the accident four years earlier, Jack and Maddie had both died at the hands of Vlad Plasmius. The woman standing in front of her now was Jazz, Danny's older sister.

"Sam what are you..," she paused, staring at the man under Sam's arm.

"Danny," she exclaimed in surprise, grabbing her little brother in a half sided hug. Danny gasped as the breath was nearly knocked out of his lungs, grimacing at the pain that shot through his broken body, as she gripped him tighter.

"Jazz," he muttered, trying to say something more but finding that he was unable to get the rest out.

Thankfully, he did not need to say another word, Jazz let go.

"Come in," Jazz quipped cheerfully, showing them to the living room, lowering the infant she had been carrying into a playpen in the middle of the room.

Tiredly, Sam gently set Danny down on the blue soft-fabric couch beneath her before setting herself beside him, sighing with exhaustion.

"So, what brings you here after all this time," Jazz asked Sam, as she sat down beside her

Sam recounted to Jazz the entire ordeal that they had been through, sparing no details. Once, Sam had finished, Jazz's mouth dropped, and she stared at Danny, amazed.

Nearing the end of her account, Sam paused briefly.

"Oh, and there's one more thing, Jazz," she paused again, unsure of how to proceed.

"What," Jazz asked, puzzled as she pushed Sam along.

"Danny and I are engaged," Sam replied, barely able to contain her excitement.

Jazz merely stared at the two in shock, her jaw instantly dropping,

"Well, it's about time," Jazz replied excitedly, grabbing Sam in a tight hug.

Two breathless minutes later, she finally let go.

Days passed, and Jazz was kind enough to let Danny and Sam stay at Fenton Works while they began making preparations for the wedding. They had decided that it was going to be a simple wedding early on, held at a simple church down the street. Neither of them would have had the funds to handle even a simple wedding if Sam had not remembered the ridiculous amount of money that Sam received as an inheritance when her parents died that until that day, she had refused to spend. Guests had been invited; flowers and gowns were bought and paid for, and everything was moving along at a decent pace.

A month passed, and finally, the day that Danny and Sam had been waiting for longer then they could count came, the wedding day. Everyone involved was high-strung, but none were as high-strung as the bride and groom themselves. As her bridesmaids rushed around her in a dizzying flurry, Sam stared at herself through the full- length mirror in her dressing room. Her raven hair was concealed behind a sheer white veil, matching the silk white gown she was wearing, her onyx jewelry the only thing paying homage to her gothic past. It was hard for her to contain her excitement. She had never felt so assured about a decision she had made in her entire life.

Just down the hall, the groom was just as sure of himself. However, the best man was not so easily convinced. Tucker Foley, who had been released from the hospital and sent home, was the one passing nervously in Danny's dressing room.

"Come on, Danny, you can't tell me that you're not the least bit concerned," he muttered anxiously.

"Why should I be," Danny questioned, clueless.

"Because you have several dangerous enemies that would like nothing more then destroying your happiness?"

"Tucker, relax, everything's going to be fine."

"I know," Tucker replied calmly.

The church had been packed to its full capacity. It seemed as though everyone in Amity Park was in attendance. White carnations and red roses adorned the sanctuary. Everything was going as planned. Danny stood at the front of the sanctuary in a slick black tuxedo, he was shaking.

"Are you okay," came a quizzical voice at his side, it was Tucker

"I'm just nervous," he replied.

"Well calm down, you're shaking like a leaf."

"Shh..." whispered the pastor as the ceremony began.

The front doors of the sanctuary swung upon. Danny could not believe his eyes. He was convinced that he had never seen a more beautiful woman in all his life. Any doubts he had ever had about what he was doing were thrown to the wind.

Sam stared straight ahead at him, equally sure that they were doing the right thing. They had put a hold on their happiness long enough. A few minutes later they stood hand in hand in front of the sanctuary facing the pastor. It was there that they pledged their lives and love to one another, ending it with a kiss that could only be defined as the pinnacle of true love.

The two lovers breathed a sigh of relief, their worst fears it seemed, they could put behind them

Hours later, the ceremony had concluded, and the newly wed Danny and Sam Fenton were rushing in a black limousine heading towards their reception. The limousine stopped in front of Sam's favorite Italian restaurant Infansino's, Sam and Danny stepped out of the limousine and were about to go inside when a familiar, sinister voice echoed from behind them.

"So, the lovebirds finally got together, to bad I'm going to have to rip you apart."

Turning to his new bride, Danny whispered in her ear "go inside, I'll take care of Plasmius."

Sam nodded solemnly, kissed Danny gently on the lips, and ran inside.

"You've got a lot of guts showing up here, Plasmius," Danny yelled angrily at his arch-enemy.

"Oh, but I'm not alone," Vlad declared cunningly.

"What are you talking about, fruit loop," Danny questioned, annoyed.

"Hello Danny," uttered a deep, conniving voice that sent chills up Danny's spine as he turned to face its source.

Standing behind him was a tall, muscular man that was a mirror image of himself, with the exception of his gleaming fangs, light aquamarine skin, torn cape, and piercing crimson red eyes- it was Dan Phantom.


	11. Why?

Immediately, Danny braced himself maintaining his fighting stance as he transformed into Danny Phantom.

"What are you doing here," Danny yelled, directing his question to his older counterpart.

"What's the matter, didn't you miss me?"

"As a matter of fact, no," Danny shouted angrily.

Dan refused to be daunted by his younger counterpart.

Fueled with rage, he plowed Danny to the ground, the force of his fall leaving a slight impact on the concrete below him. Fighting the darkness that threatened to overwhelm his vision, Danny squirmed free of Dan's grasp, and stood facing him holding out his fists defensively. Danny was preparing to shoot Dan with an ectoplasm blast that would have sent him back into oblivion, when a searing hot pain shot from his back.

He fell to the ground, the wound on his back radiating swirling, dark periwinkle smoke. Staggering, Danny stood to his feet.

"Oh come Daniel, don't be foolish, it's two against one," Vlad Plasmius sneered.

For a minute, he paused, a wicked grin crossing his face as he continued,

"Or perhaps you like the idea of Sam being a widow so soon."

Danny's eyes glowed blazing neon green as he stared at Vlad. Without warning, Danny charged at his arch-enemy, driving him into the ground.

"Don't you _dare _bring her into this," Danny yelled, gritting his teeth in anger.

Struggling, Vlad managed to kick Danny off of him.

Meanwhile, Sam still sat inside the restaurant, engaging herself in the chatter of her guests. She was worried, and it seemed to her as if everyone could tell. Determined, she tried to ignore the sounds of battle echoing from outside.

"Where's Danny," Jazz asked Sam worriedly. Sam was about to answer her when suddenly; she heard a loud crash as the window beside her broke open. Shocked, Sam saw Danny fly through the now broken window and fall limply on the table beside her. Screams echoed throughout the restaurant as the guests stared at the sight in front of them. Grimacing, Danny opened his eyes, stood up unsteadily, and flew out of the window he had entered through. Now, Sam found herself more worried then ever before and it took every ounce of will power she had left not to get up and go help him.

For several, breath -taking minutes, Sam endured listening to Danny's painful screams as he continued to fight his foes. Then, she could not take it anymore. Without even pausing to think, she ran outside.

"Vlad _what have you done," _Sam screamed, staring at the sight in front of her.


	12. The Fight Of A Life

Vlad was standing with one foot on the concrete road below him and the other on top of Danny's torso. His heavy black boot pressed down hard on his chest, as he bent down, eye to eye with his archenemy. A sickening crack was heard when Danny's ribs could no longer handle the pressure. Creasing his forehead against the pain, Danny's head turned slightly in Sam's direction, as hacking coughs wracked through his beaten and bleeding body. Frozen momentarily, Sam stared in horror as his blood spattered on the asphalt below him with each cough.

"Sam, stay out of this," Danny pleaded.

Sam stood her ground, refusing to move a muscle.

"Please Sam, just go," Danny asked desperately between coughs.

"Danny, I'm not leaving you," Sam replied firmly, tears streaming down her eyes.

For a brief moment, Vlad appeared oblivious of the woman as he directed his attention towards Danny.

"When are you going to end this Daniel," Vlad questioned, truly mischievous.

"This ends, the day that you surrender."

Fueled with anger, Vlad's lips curled into a growl as he grabbed his foe and lifted him up off the ground. He jostled motionlessly in Vlad's arms as his energy began to ebb. Maliciously, both Vlad Plasmius and Dan Phantom took turns assaulting him. Stifling an agonized scream, Danny endured their numerous punches and blows. Suddenly and graciously, they stopped.

"You see Daniel, what you fail to realize is that I always win," Vlad declared with a smug attitude. As Vlad sent a shock through Danny's body, Danny Phantom disappeared in a flash of white blue light and was replaced by Danny Fenton. Feeling that his job had been finished Vlad carelessly let go of Danny's hand.

Sam screamed his name as he started falling fast to the ground, and she ran to catch him. He fell hard into Sam's arms and she collapsed, falling to her knees. Frightened beyond mere words, Sam stared at her new husband. Numerous gashes covered his body, causing an extensive amount of blood loss, and from the way that his right arm bent out sideways in an awkward position, she was sure that it was broken. Momentarily he opened his eyes, and stared at her, his once blazing blue eyes, now pale and dull. Frozen for a moment, Sam cradled him in her arms, whispering words of comfort.

Subsequently, the high-pitched symphony of maniacal laughter echoing above them stopped Sam dead in her tracks. Furious, she gently lowered Danny to the ground and stood to face her adversaries. She fought them mercilessly, and within a few minutes, they disappeared.

A low grunt came from behind her, and still adrenaline ridden, Sam turned around. There stood Danny, struggling to keep himself on his own two feet. Concerned, she ran to him, desperate to help. Putting his arm around her, she slowly began to help him inside. They had only gone a few steps when suddenly; his peach complexion faded and was replaced by a terrifying pallid complexion. His once rigid body went limp, as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Staggering with the sudden loss of support, Sam managed to make it back inside the restaurant.


	13. Here We Go

Terrified stares and shrieks of horror met them upon their entrance. Ignoring them, Sam turned her attention to her husband. Sweat trickled down his forehead in small beads, as he (though he was unconscious) fought his pain. Caringly, Sam grabbed a napkin, and wiped it off. Flinching at the touch, Sam felt a hand on the back of her shoulder, startled she turned around, it was Jazz. A worried glance crossed her face.

"Jazz, do you have a phone," Sam asked urgently, broken.

Wordless, Jazz nodded and pulled it out. A few minutes passed as Jazz explained the situation to the authorities.

"They're coming," Jazz told Sam reassuringly, turning off her phone.

Sure enough about eight minutes later, Sam heard the scream of sirens, as an ambulance approached the restaurant. Two paramedics burst through the front wooden doors. With the efficiency of a well-oiled machine, they grabbed Danny's body, and lifted him from Sam's arms and into the waiting stretcher with considerable effort as she tried to hold him close. For a moment, she was immobile. Memories of the past flooded her brain.

_ "Danny...I'm so sorry..." _she heard the voice of her fourteen year old self mutter  
_**"**You and Dash...but we were... we weren't...were we," _came Danny's voice, filled with disappointment.

_"No. Ember did that. It's just that...this is so hard because part of me...part of me really liked this, and..."_

_"Danny, are you okay?"_

_"No. I feel like my heart's been ripped out. But I know who I can take it out on!"_

Out of the blue, she was rudely snapped back into the present, by a stifled call coming from Danny's direction. He had awakened and was thrashing awkwardly on the stretcher he had been lying on only to be held down.

"_Sam, Sam,_" he yelled hoarsely, hoping to get her attention.

Staggering once again, she picked herself out of her chair and still slightly startled, Sam ran toward Danny and followed the paramedics into the ambulance. The ride to the hospital was a silent blur for Sam, who had found herself completely unable to focus, on anything (much less the questions that the paramedics had been asking her) other than Danny.

He looked horrible. The bruises and cuts on his body were too numerous to count as they ripped through his midnight tuxedo. His breath came in ragged gasps, even after an oxygen mask had been placed over his face, and he was shaking uncontrollably with shock. Sam could not lie to herself, it frightened her, but she could not bring herself to admit it out loud.

So, she sat, motionless, clutching his now limp hand for dear life, hoping, even praying that he would make it through. She hated the idea of him being stolen from her so soon; she had lost him too many times already, and was not prepared for that loss to become a permanent one. Breaking Sam out of her daze once again, she felt the ambulance come to a screeching halt, and saw the back doors swing open, revealing the blinding light of the late afternoon sun. Running completely off of the adrenaline that was now coursing through her veins, Sam sprinted out of the ambulance and followed Danny's stretcher as it was wheeled through the E.R. Frantic shouts of orders filled the room, as they wheeled Danny into his own solitary cubical, with Sam following close behind. Instantaneously, the E.R. physicians began their work. Like clockwork, they traded various instruments among themselves and Sam stared in horror as they attempted to staunch the blood flow coming from his many open wounds. In the midst of the chaos an orderly turned to face Sam, who still wore a look of absolute shock. Concerned, he took her hand, and led her aside.

"Why don't you go on down to the waiting room, we'll let you know when we're done."

In defeated obedience, Sam pushed herself out of the room, and into the waiting room. For hours, she paced nervously, occasionally, listening to the shouts coming from inside the E.R. that only made her more nervous. When she could no longer stand the stress, Sam walked herself over to the solitary bathroom at the end of the waiting room, and locked herself inside. Staring through the mirror in front of her, Sam saw herself for the first time since that morning. Mascara ran down face in black streams as more tears fell from her puffy, red eyes. Her once grand wedding gown was now a complete mess, stained with dirt and dried blood. Determined, Sam cleaned herself off as best she could, and made her way back into the waiting room.

Several more hours had passed, when finally; Sam heard a commanding voice call her name.

"Mrs. Fenton," called the voice, its source, a scruffy-looking blue-eyed, brown haired man, who looked to be at least in his early thirties. Aroused, Sam rose, and came to the doctor's side.

"Yes," she muttered.

"Come with me," he said quickly, leading Sam down the hall.


	14. Tell Me It's Not The End

Stares of confusion and bewilderment followed Sam as she made her way down the hall. As each step trudged on, Sam began to feel like chunks of lead had been tied to her already heavy slippers. No matter how many times she went though things like this with Danny, she would never get used to it, especially, not today. It was supposed to be a happy day for her, now she found herself (in some ways) just wishing that it would end, and they could both live their lives normally, for once, well, maybe not "normal", she hated normal, she could never get used to normal, her life had been abnormal for far too long.

Knocked out of her thoughts, Sam heard a slight creak as the doctor opened the door in front of them. They seemed to stride endlessly, as they walked past scores of sheer blue curtain covered cubicles. Finally, the doctor stopped in front of the fifth one to their right and paused briefly. Brushing past him, Sam walked inside the cubicle.

"Oh Danny," Sam whispered, desperately trying to keep a hold of herself, as she pulled up a chair beside him.

Briefly, she turned around to thank the doctor that had brought her to him, he was gone. Slightly gratified, Sam turned to face Danny. Tubes (too many to try and count) protruded from his skin, an enormous forbidding machine stood beside him, the mechanics inside it moved up and down in a steady rhythm every time Danny took a pained breath. He was deathly pale, sweat still trickled down his forehead, plastering his once shining brunette hair to his furrowed forehead as he still valiantly fought against untreatable pain.

She began to stroke his forehead, wiping his sweat away with one of his ivory colored sheets. Feeling that it was nowhere near the right time to consider such things Sam began to second guess herself. Originally, there was no doubt in her mind that she could handle the conditions that Danny's position and will to be hero put him in. After all, they had already been through numerous trials as teenagers, trials that had tested their friendship and Sam's will to keep quiet while Danny continued to put himself in harm's way for the sake of his family, his friends and his town. Sure, she had handled it fine then, with her teenage naivety giving her a helping hand, but now, as she had matured and reality had given her a swift slap on the face, she was not so sure. Simply said, she loved him. It was not the stunted love she had for him as a teenager, one that changed like the weather with every new girlfriend she watched him go through, but a sincere, never-ending, abandon-all, love. At the present, it seemed her downfall.

If she was to be fully honest with herself she had to admit it really did not matter how rash he was being, (it had become necessary) she only cared for him. Her heart still broke every time she had to watch him enter into the unnecessary and even sometimes the necessary battles. It was the fact that a part of her wished that it had been her who had been caught inside that ghost portal, forced to live the life of a hero out of a pure sense of responsibility, and her who had been putting her life on the line everyday for the past seven years. Yet she had not been, Danny had, he made his choice, and Sam admired him all the more for that, even if it did cost her something.

"Ugh," echoed a muffled groan from Danny's direction. Startled out of her thoughts once again, Sam turned around.

"Danny," Sam asked desperately, grasping his pale hand.

"Sam," he asked in a rasped whisper, "I'm sorry..." he muttered before closing his eyes.

"Danny? Danny!" Sam screamed worriedly.


	15. There's More

Staring at Danny's limp body in horror Sam found she was unable to comprehend what was happening as she shot out of her chair. Within minutes, numerous physicians crowded the room, blocking Sam's view of Danny and nearly pushing her completely out of the room. As they began to try and see what was wrong with him, a loud, shrill, continuous beep was heard coming from the heart monitor that Danny was attached to. A young physician, who apparently was chief physician that had himself stationed at Danny's head, jerked his head in alarm. Gazing at Sam for a moment her pale, terror ridden face etched in his mind, concern written in his turquoise eyes, and tanned face, he began to efficiently bark orders.

"He's going into cardiac arrest," he screamed, moving to administer C.P.R.

"Get me a defibrillator, stat," he yelled to the orderlies standing beside him, and they rushed out of the room.

While they were gone, the physician continued C.P.R.; the absence of a change in Danny's stilling heartbeat telling him that he was not getting anywhere. Not a moment too soon, the orderlies returned. Moving with determined efficiency, the doctor grabbed the pads attached to the machine.

"Set it to one hundred," he ordered.

Obediently, the orderlies did so, and the doctor lowered his arms, setting the pads on Danny's still chest. His body jerked violently with the shock, but refused to give any other response. After several minutes of repeating the same pattern, setting the machine to different levels, the flurry settled. Sweat trickled off of the physician's face as he lowered his arms. Relief showing on his every feature, he uttered victoriously,

"We have a rhythm."

Turning to Sam, his expression immediately soured.

"We're going to have to run some tests to find out why his heart stopped," he told her gravely, as he took charge of ushering Danny's stretcher out of the room.

Still riddled with the shock of what had just happened, Sam nodded and once again, lowered herself into the chair beneath her as the swarms of doctors began to dissipate. She put her head in her hands, holding back tears, as they defiantly streamed down her face. Reluctantly, she gave into them, and cried silently into her hands, all sense of time seemingly forgotten.

At last, hours later, Danny and the physician were back. Danny was out cold as the physician headed in Sam's direction.

"Mrs. Fenton?"

"Please, call me Sam," Sam muttered in a low voice.

"Alright Sam, First of all I have to tell you, there's no easy way to say this," the doctor stammered, as if he were unsure of himself, which made Sam all the more nervous.

"Say what?"

"We ran a few tests and found out why his heart stopped," he muttered, stopping suddenly, making it sound like he wanted to say more, but he did not know how to say what he needed to say.

"What did you find," Sam asked persistently, pushing him on, while still equally unsure that she was prepared for his answer.

"He has coronary artery disease," he said flat and emotionlessly.

Tears once again made their way across Sam's face.

"What's that," Sam asked, truly frightened.

"It's a disease that starts in the arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the heart. It causes decreased blood flow to the heart muscle, and if the arteries get blocked, the heart becomes starved for oxygen and nutrients, which in some cases could ultimately cause it to stop working. We found an artery blocked in the left ventricle of his heart and we're going to have to perform surgery to unclog it."

"Do it," Sam replied bitterly, not even pausing to let a second thought invade her mind.

Hours later, Sam sat inside Danny's hospital room, alone, waiting for any news that may come her way. Her mind wandered aimlessly, focusing on anything and everything that distracted her from her current situation. Around the eighth hour Sam was beginning to get restless. At the tenth hour, she wondered if it should really take this long. Vaguely, Sam became aware of the blare of the intercom, its voice resounding in her mind.

"All available personnel to O.R. three," it demanded.

Mere minutes had passed when Danny's doctor (who Sam had since learned was named Dr. Manson) rushed frantically into the room toward her. Sam cringed slightly at the sight of his blood-stained pale green scrubs. Bile rose in her throat as he stood in front of her opening his mouth to speak. She beat him to it.

"What happened," she asked, finding herself unnerved by the fact that even he seemed frightened. He did not mince words with her.

"We lost him," he uttered, his voice deep and full of meaning. For a moment, Sam was silent, letting his words sink in.

"What do you mean, you lost him," Sam asked fearfully, her voice breaking, hoping, praying that he was not going to say the words she dreaded hearing.

"I'm not even sure how to explain it but, after the surgery had gotten well underway, he disappeared, vanished out of thin air. The only clue that we were able to find to where he had gone was this," he answered, handing Sam a small object. She stared at it briefly before she recognized it. It was a mechanical bug, shaped like a literal beetle, its head having a likeness of Vlad Plasmius. Without a word, Sam left the room. With determined purpose, she ran downstairs to the pay phone. When she got there, she called Jazz, the only person she felt like she could talk to at the time.

After Sam, explained the situation, Jazz assured Sam that she would be at the hospital as soon as possible. Sure enough, about fifteen minutes later, Jazz's black Jaguar pull up in front of the hospital, stopping mere inches from Sam's feet.

As soon as Sam had piled into the front seat, Jazz's questioning began.

"So, where are we going," she asked. Sam stared at her for a moment.

"You never really said," Jazz retorted sheepishly.

"Madison, Wisconsin," Sam muttered, as Jazz gunned her car as much as she dared.


	16. And the story continues

The rest of the trip was silent, either woman refusing to speak as their minds raced. Finally, after just crossing the Illinois-Wisconsin border, Sam turned to Jazz.

"Now Jazz, I know that this is hard for you, but I need you to follow my lead okay," she asked desperately.

Jazz simply nodded, Sam had already been through so much and there was no reason to argue with her, Sam had to know what she was doing.

After hours of riding almost blindly on the dark roads of Wisconsin, they saw Vlad's mansion looming in the distance before them. Jazz wisely abandoned her car on the side of the road. Climbing out of her car, Jazz made her way its trunk. Reaching inside, she withdrew two large Fenton Bazookas and a Thermos, strapping a Bazooka to her shoulder before handing Sam the other along with the thermos.

Carefully, they walked towards Vlad's mansion. Sam stepped in front of Jazz, and went through the surprisingly open back door. Then, the search began. Diligently, they searched every nook and cranny of the mansion, overturning furniture, searching every room and nearly tearing the entire place apart. Several hours later, they were still searching, with no results. Suddenly, a familiar terrified scream reaching their ears stopped them dead in their tracks.

They ran outside, following the sound to its source, happening upon Vlad's full-sized football field. Frantically, their eyes darted and searched around the vast expansion of the area as the sound rang in their ears once again this time much closer. Then their eyes rested upon a frightening sight. Vlad stood in his ghostly form, his black booted feet planted firmly in the ground beneath him, lips curled into a sinister smile, his piercing crimson eyes glowing with a malicious intensity as he stood triumphantly over Danny's weakened human body preparing to attack once again, as Danny unsteadily, and feebly attempted to pick himself up off the ground. Sam stared in horror as she saw that he was still in his hospital gown, the front of which was now almost completely covered in blood.

On impulse, Sam rushed hastily forward, her own amethyst eyes glaring at Plasmius malevolently the very look in her eyes radiating an uncharacteristic hatred for the man. Vaguely, in the midst of the thoughts running through her brain, Sam became aware of the hand that was now grabbing a hold of her arm in a vice-like grip. Frightened, she turned around, meeting Jazz's worried gaze, as she noticed that it was her who had grabbed her arm.

"Sam, be careful," Jazz begged, silently hoping that she would not do anything rash out of blind rage. Resolute, Sam wrenched free of Jazz's grip and stood in front of Plasmius, gaining a firm fighting stance, bracing for anything.


	17. The Scenario gets worse

"You're a parasite, do you know that Plasmius? No matter how many times I've tried to get rid of you, you always seem to come back," Sam yelled, stepping forward.

Anger motivated her every move as she traded several punches and blows with Plasmius, weakening him greatly. When it had finally ended, Sam grabbed Plasmius by the neck with her left hand, and held the Fenton thermos over him with her right. He struggled violently, moving his body back and forth, managing to flip Sam over with the force, causing her to release the iron grip she had on him. Clearing the stars that now clouded her vision, Sam stood up defensively.

"You're more trouble than you're worth," Vlad sneered, gazing at her coldly.

He raised his left hand and it fizzled with magenta ectoplasm energy, as he prepared to end her opposition once and for all. Suddenly, Sam weakly rose up and grabbed the Fenton thermos, picking it up from the cold ground it had fallen on when it fell from her grasp. Before Vlad could even see it coming, Sam activated the thermos and sucked Vlad inside.

"Oh butter biscuits," Vlad exclaimed from his uncomfortable position inside the thermos.

"Thanks Sam," a weak yet, familiar voice sounded from behind her.

She turned to see her husband's pale, weak form, clutched in the arms of his older sister. Still holding the thermos in her hands, Sam raced to his fallen form, kneeling beside him and Jazz.

"No problem," Sam uttered breathlessly, when she finally reached them, forcing a pained smile to appear on her face just for his benefit.

Jazz, noticing Sam's delicate emotional state, immediately took charge of the situation.

"Let's go," Jazz voiced commandingly.

Sam nodded comprehendingly, picked herself off the ground, and followed Jazz as she ran across the field (with Danny still in her arms) toward the forest where she had hidden her car. She found it easily and revved the engine to its fullest capacity, as Sam huddled in the backseat with Danny. He shook uncontrollably; as she held him in her arms, shock from the massive amount of blood lost from his wounds overtaking him. Being as gentle as she possibly could, Sam held him tighter, doing her best to try and comfort him.

"Jazz, can't you go any faster," Sam asked, her voice shaking.

"I'm already going three miles past the speed limit, if I go any faster, we'll end up in jail," Jazz retorted, in a cross between annoyed and worried.

Suddenly, Danny's breaths started coming in short, ragged gasps. Horrified once they reached her ears, Sam tore her icy gaze from Jazz and looked down on him. A struggle was evident in his whitening expression, as if he was trying to hold something back, but was failing. His whole body tensed for a moment, and then relaxed, his ragged breaths replaced by silence.

As the fear inside her grew by the second, Sam put her left hand over her mouth to keep herself from crying out, and her right over Danny's chest. There was a rapid, uncontrolled, rhythmic beat that pushed against her palm, but she could not feel it move up and down with the steady intake of air. Frozen with fear, Sam realized that she had no time to think, she had to act fast.

"Jazz, pull over," Sam pleaded desperately.

The tires of the car screeched loudly, as Jazz did what she was told, and stopped on the side of the road.

"What's wrong," Jazz asked, concerned.

"He stopped breathing," Sam answered sharply, as she moved Danny into a better position to administer C.P.R. For a moment Jazz watched, transfixed as Sam pumped her brother's chest and forced her air into his lungs, his weakened body giving no response. Determined, Sam tried again, and still no result rewarded her. Light, hot tears cascaded down her face, and she tried to push them away, this was no time for emotion.

"Danny come on, breathe," Sam begged.

As she pulled herself away for one more breath, she saw red and blue lights swirling toward them, the sound of a police car ringing in her ears. It came into view, stopped just behind Jazz's car, and the officer stepped out. She was a middle aged woman who looked too callous for her job, she stood tall, her light brown hair that was hidden by her tan sheriff's hat, was pulled up in a tight ponytail, her hazel eyes radiating disinterest.

"What's going on here," she questioned demandingly, holding a flashlight to Jazz's face.

Her piercing gaze shifted, scanning over behind Jazz to Sam, who still had herself straddled over Danny's still form had not even bothered to stop what she was doing. Jazz interjected.

"My brother was in an accident, down at the Master's mansion,'" Jazz replied she trembled with the memory for a brief second, noticing the officer nod with familiarity, and, then continued, "We were trying to get to a hospital when he stopped breathing, so I had to pull over so Sam could do C.P.R."

For a moment, all was silent and then, a loud gasp was heard, coming from Danny as he began to regain his normal breathing pattern. Sam held him tightly to her chest in relief, before turning him over so he could breathe more easily.

"If you need to get to a hospital, I know of one about three miles from here, I could take you there if you'd like," the officer offered, her voice softening.

A small smile crept across Jazz's face as she nodded, turning her car's engine back on, shutting her door as the officer sped to her own squad car. Minutes ticked by steadily, as they finally made their way to a hospital, the officer helping them dodged miles of traffic, as the swerved in and out of lanes. Finally, they saw a tall, white building coming toward them, glowing neon blue "H" on the front of it. Elated, they pulled into the emergency parking lot. Practically leaping, Jazz got out of the car, as Sam grabbed Danny once again and piled out herself. Blinding white light surrounded them as they made their way into the emergency room, yelling for help.

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	18. Will this get any better?

Upon spotting them, the whole room swarmed into action. A group of physicians ran toward Sam and grabbed Danny from her protective grasp, taking him to an examination room down the hall. Questions flew in the air like bullets, as another group of physicians lead Jazz and Sam to the waiting room. For hours, that was where they remained. Sam began pacing back and forth with nervousness in front of Jazz, who unsteadily shifted in the metal, pink cushioned chair that she was sitting in. Five hours passed, and still no word reached their ears on his condition. Jazz, who had had enough of Sam's pacing, finally confronted her.

"Sam, you've probably walked about six miles by now, you need to sit down."

Sam, pushed back into reality by what Jazz had said, obediently sat in the empty chair next to Jazz, holding her head in her hands.

A few more hours passed and both women found themselves more restless then either of them thought possible. Finally, a tall, young man (seemingly in his younger twenties) wearing a colorless lab coat, having spiked black hair, and deep coffee colored eyes that showed a genuine concern and shining pallid skin, came out of the front metal doors that lead to the examination section of the emergency room, his ebony, polished Hush Puppies, heading straight for them. When he reached his destination Sam's head immediately shot up.

"Mrs. Fenton," he asked.

Silence hung in the air not a sound escaping the distraught women's mouth.

"Yes," Sam answered, when she finally remembered that that was her name now.

"May I talk to you for a moment _in private,_" he replied in a morose tone of voice.

Nodding, Sam stood up and followed the physician to a secluded corner of the waiting room.

"How's Danny," came the first question from Sam.

"Stable, he's resting, but we need to talk about his future prognosis."

A long, self- sustaining silence filled the room only to be broken by the physician minutes later, as he cleared his throat.

"It's a good thing that you got him here when you did. The lacerations on his body could have become deadly had you not gotten here in time. We have done some tests and found that the disease present in his cardiovascular system is dormant. So far it seems that he has done quiet well in adjusting, and as of now, I am convinced that there is no need to worry about it being an immediate threat to his life. However, I will insist that at least for the next week he refrains from any unnecessary physical activity, he is to remain on bed rest and I'm counting on you to help him do that."

Sam shifted uncomfortably, knowing that that was an unlikely possibility.

The physician continued.

"The good news is he can go home today," the physician piped brightly, leading her off to Danny's room.

When they arrived, Danny was already in a wheelchair. His body, though it was clouded with the façade of weakness still held the same strength that Sam had always admired. A young, statuesque orderly with flowing blonde hair and bright blue eyes stood behind him readying to get him out the door.

"I'll take it from here," Sam uttered, smiling as she grabbed the handles of the wheelchair, and pushed the chair out the door herself with the orderly following close behind out of hospital policy.

They headed straight to the emergency waiting room, where Jazz was still sitting.

"What'd they say," Jazz asked, perking her head up in curiosity.

"We're going home," Sam answered, her bright smile stretching from ear to ear. A smile immediately made its way across Jazz's face as well.

"So, what are we waiting for, let's go," Jazz echoed excitedly, leading them outside the sliding glass doors of the hospital and into the parking lot.

As Jazz fumbled around in her purse looking for her keys, Sam gently lifted Danny out of the wheelchair and helped in lay down in the backseat, handing the wheelchair to the orderly, before scooting into the front seat herself. Silence enveloped the car as it sped away from the hospital, interrupted only momentarily as Sam and Jazz discovered by the sound of his strained snoring that Danny had fallen asleep.

Staring out the window that she was now leaning up against, Sam's mind wandered, she was bustling with excitement to be able to be home with Danny for the first time. Before they had gotten married, they had decided that it would be the best move for the both of them to live at Sam's house instead of Danny's small apartment or moving to a different house all together. Their house had been completely refurbished, what little property Danny owned moved in, and made ready to be lived in. Then she thought about Danny and his ghost-fighting "career". Getting him to temporarily quite for the sake of his health was not going to be an easy feat.

Abruptly, Sam's thought pattern was interrupted by the sudden lurch of the vehicle. A tall, lavender 20th century two story townhouse stood looming before them.

The windows were dark, and not a stir of life existed with the vast expansions of the house. Vines and growing vegetation around the house added to the forbidding appearance of it.

"Home, sweet home," Sam mumbled, forcing her body to move out the door.

Carefully, she dragged the still sleeping Danny out of the backseat, hooking her arm under his and forcing him along.

"Thank you," Sam whispered, directing her voice to Jazz.

"Anytime," she whispered, before pulling out of the driveway.

One step at a time, the pair made their way up the stairs.Using her free hand, Sam grabbed the keys to the house from her pocket and opened the door, pulling Danny inside. Once they got in, Sam laid Danny down on the worn dark navy leather couch in the middle of the room, covering him with a soft maroon blanket. Sighing, Sam sat down on the end of the couch beside his still figure, her mind once again beginning to wander. She could not help but be worried for her new husband. It seemed to her that there was no way that she was going to be able to convince him to stop fighting, not with the possibility of ghosts still breaking out.., or was there? A light that had not been seen since the day she married the love of her life glowed in her eyes, she had to protect him and her muddled mind could see only one solution... she had to fight for him. Determined, Sam walked to the master bedroom, and dove underneath the bed. She withdrew a long cardboard box which not only still contained all of the ghost hunting equipment she already owned, yet was now also filled to the brim with battle suits, a storable jet sled and other items that Valerie had given her just after the wedding, she was well prepared.

Suddenly, a crash along with a seemingly ghostly scream resounded in the front of the house, causing Sam to run in the living room, her new equipment in hand. Thankfully, Danny was a sound sleeper and was still huddled on the couch. Taking no time to consider her actions, Sam threw on a dark purple battle suit, pulling the hood over her face to conceal her identity.

When she had gotten outside, Sam was met with a sight that at any other time would have made her burst out in laughter, for there floated the plump Box Ghost, whose usual jean overalls, pointed tennis shoes and beanie style hat covered his pale blue skin, accenting his crimson red eyes as he glared at her in confusion.

"I am the Box Ghost, who are you," the specter screamed at Sam.

Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Sam took out the Fenton Thermos that she had taken with her, and pulled the ghost inside. Maybe this would be easier then she thought.

A few days passed and no news of any more disturbances reached her ears. Surprisingly, Sam found that it was quite easy to keep Danny in bed; he seemed to sleep most of the day anyway. Within that week Sam had reluctantly agreed to go back to work, leaving Danny on his own with his assurances that everything was going to be alright.

Monday morning came faster then Sam would have liked. After making sure that Danny was comfortable Sam dragged herself out the door, locking it, as she continued to itch at her irritable new uniform, heading off to her new job at an animal shelter, not two blocks from their house. Luckily for her, the day passed rather quickly, and before she knew it, it was time for her lunch break. Setting herself down on a bench outside the office, Sam was just about to devour her homemade organic salad, when a familiar yell reached her ears...Skulker was on the hunt again.

Almost instantaneously dropping her salad, Sam dashed into the nearest ladies room, holding in her hands the bag that held all her equipment. Once she found an empty stall, Sam put the bag down and pulled out her lilac jumpsuit and zipped it on over her uniform, forgetting to pull her face mask on as she dashed out the door with unmatched speed and agility. As the sunlight hit her face, Sam clicked her heels together, and her silver jet sled appeared out from underneath her. Skulker, it seemed was already engaged in an intense battle with an unseen enemy. Her curiosity growing within her, Sam navigated the jet sled, making it rise off of the ground to meet Skulker and his opponent.

Shock and anger etched across her face when she saw his opponent...it was Danny in his ghost form.

"What are you doing here," Danny asked, momentarily ceasing fire, staring at her worriedly.

In response, Sam crossed her arms in mid-air, a slight scowl now showing on her pale face.

"I should be asking you the same question," Sam muttered defiantly.

His nervousness got the best of him and, Danny scratched the back of his neck feverously, searching for an answer.


	19. A light at the end of the tunnel

Skulker who had been viewing the whole confrontation with sick amusement, was about to take advantage of the sudden distraction and fire on the both of them, when Sam caught his movement out of the corner of her eye and sucked him inside the Fenton thermos she had been holding in her hand. Danny continued to stare blankly at her, still trying to form his own explanation, following her as she lowered her jet sled to the ground. He had opened his mouth and was about to explain , but Sam held up her hand.

"We'll talk about it later, go home," Sam muttered commandingly.

Still trying to say something more, but then thinking better of it, Danny's face fell as he turned around and flew off in the direction of their house. Dragging herself every step of the way, Sam turned her back, picked up her unfinished lunch, closed it, and walked slowly back towards her office. Sarah, her new boss was quick to accost her about being five minutes late from her lunch break, but she shrugged it off easily, letting her mind get preoccupied with more important thoughts. She hated to think that she could not trust Danny to _stay_ home by himself, but it looked like she was going to have to figure something out.

The rest of the day passed rather quickly, much to Sam's relief with only routine interruptions, and before she knew it, it was closing time and she was walking outside towards the parking lot, her back to the setting sun as she revved the engine of her black and silver rimmed Thunderbird and headed home. Twenty minutes later she pulled into a familiar driveway, a looming old- style lavender mansion with long magenta window shades covering its dark windows, the vegetation that had started growing around it adding to its fearsome appearance as it stood in front of her. Fishing her house keys out of her pocket, she headed towards the townhouse, taking her jacket, and files from work with her. Determination dominated her every movement as she made her way up the steps leading towards the mansion, carefully taking her keys and unlocking the door, which creaked with age as she opened it and stepped inside the house. It was dark, and not a sound came from its vast expansions. Worried but for a moment, Sam called out.

"Danny, where are you," she called, her voice quivering slightly as she set her things down on the table in front of her.

For a moment she listened carefully, all was silent. Then, a small, weak voice coming from their bedroom reached her ears, which she followed. Sure enough, there was Danny, lying strewn on their king-sized bed wrapped in a cocoon of crimson colored blankets that barely covered his weak, sleeping, and now sickly looking form. Concern written on her forehead, Sam sat down by his feet. Feeling her movement, he shifted slightly, and sat up, his azure eyes staring at her with the most pathetic, apologetic look that she had ever seen.

"Sam I don't know why you're so upset. You know that I can't stop, just because I'm sick, it's too dangerous," Danny spit out, breaking the silence as he lifted himself to a sitting position.

Sam breathed in a sharp much needed breathe of air before she answered him.

" I know, it's not that,I'm upset with you because I'm not the only one who's depending on you to stay alive anymore," Sam replied, her lips quivering once again.

"What are you talking about," Danny asked urgently, grabbing her hand.

Calmly and wordlessly, Sam wrenched free of his grasp and grabbed _his _hand, pulling it towards her as she lifted her shirt halfway revealing her now obviously bulging abdomen. Not a sound escaped either of their lips as Danny felt her warm skin beneath his chilling hand. He stared at her in confusion, before a pronounced pulse from underneath her skin interrupted him. His mouth dropped wide open as his expression transformed from confused to shock as he continued staring into her tear-filled lavender eyes.

"You mean..." Danny muttered, at a loss for words.

Sam nodded slightly, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"You're a daddy," Sam answered finally, letting a small smile cross her face, as she leaned in and kissed her husband gently, but passionately on the lips


	20. What could happen?

Startled, Danny pulled back.

"How long have you known," Danny asked, staring at her lovingly.

"Only a few days, I was waiting for the right time to tell you," Sam answered truthfully.

"Do you know how far along you are," Danny questioned curiously.

"Medical science has only come so far so, no, I don't, but if I had to guess, I'd say

only about three weeks or so."

"What are we going to do," Danny started in a worried tone of voice, only to be cut off quickly by Sam.

"Danny, I know this didn't happen the way that we wanted it to happen or when, but that doesn't mean that this baby can't still be a blessing—­­" this time Sam was cut off by Danny.

"That's not what I meant, it's just… I didn't expect this to happen so soon," Danny muttered, dejected.

"Neither did I," Sam admitted, her smile wavering as she turned away from Danny's helpless glare.

When she turned back toward him, tears were once again casting a glassy shadow on her lilac eyes as she continued.

"Don't worry, everything's going to be fine," Danny insisted confidently, wrapping his arms around her once again.

"I know," Sam whispered, sounding a little less than reassuring.

Days had passed and soon turned into weeks, and Danny and Sam were faced with a

new problem. As Sam's pregnancy progressed and Danny's condition worsened, they found

themselves unable to counter the mounting ghost attacks. Jazz had willingly enlisted in

helping them for the time being, but most of the time, that was not enough.

Through the occasional "visitors" the Fentons learned that the Ghost Zone had been on

the verge of a civil war for months. The constant threat that this impending war brought put a

tight strain on the Fenton's already exhausted resources. Then in January, mere weeks

before Sam's due date war broke out.

As the fighting escalated, and seemed to get closer to spilling over on the Earth,

Danny's sense of reckless responsibility kicked in. Two days after the war had begun; Danny

took Sam aside, deciding that it was only fair to let her in on his plans. Sam immediately knew

that something was wrong when he led her to their bedroom, holding her hand as if he were

holding onto life itself, silent tears falling stubbornly down his face which showed an air

of uncertainty, telling Sam that she was sure that whatever Danny had to say, she was not

ready to hear it. Silently, they both sat down on the edge of their king-size bed, Danny turning

his face from her but for a moment.

"Danny, what is it," Sam asked worriedly, taking his face in her hands, forcing him to

look her in the eyes, his defeated, unsure expression sending waves of compassion through her

heart.

"Sam…" he began, "I don't know how I'm going to tell you this, and I know you probably aren't going to want to listen to me once I do, but you have to. This war has

gotten too dangerous and too close to home, I can't keep sitting on the sidelines while this world gets torn apart, knowing that I could have done something to stop it…" holding up her hand, as tears began to stream down her own face, Sam cut him off.

"Please tell me you're not thinking about doing what I think you're thinking about doing," Sam asked, now becoming frantic.

"Sam, I have to, I don't have a choice," Danny muttered, desperately trying to hang on to his resolve as he stared into her tear-filled amethyst eyes.

Sam was speechless, staring at Danny as she brought her left hand down to clutch her stomach, which pulsed, telling her that her baby had awakened again and was not satisfied to stay in the same position.

"I'm leaving tonight," Danny told her, holding her close as she began to cry.

"Danny," Sam whimpered, holding him as tightly as she dared.

"Sam, I've set it before and I'll say it again, I'm the only one who has a chance at saving our lives."

"I know, but that doesn't mean that you have to risk your own," Sam pleaded, getting agitated.

"What about the baby," she asked desperately.

"That's exactly why I have to do this, to protect you _and _the baby," he whispered softly in her ear.

The rest of the day was a silent one for Danny and Sam, with Danny not wanting to inflict anymore damage than he already had and Sam, knowing that it was unlikely for Danny to listen to anything else that she had to say anyway. Sunset came hours later, and Danny had already finished making preparations for the battle ahead of him. Dutifully, Sam stood beside him, and out of his way, finally accepting Danny's decision. Realizing the full weight of the risk that he was about to take, Danny turned in Sam's direction. Silent tears were falling rapidly down her face, which had become puffy and red as she fought to keep control of herself. Doing the only thing that he could do for the moment, he took her face in his hand and overwhelmed her with a breathtaking, meaningful kiss, breaking only to breathe.

"Go," she told him, holding back what she really felt like saying. He nodded understandingly, turning away. Taking one last mournful glance at his distraught wife, he flew off toward Wisconsin, the location of the only remaining portal. Time passed idly, with no word of the war reaching Sam's ears and her due date rapidly approaching.

Several days soon passed, and Sam refused to let herself overreact, knowing that the consequences for her baby could possibly be dire. In an effort to pass the time as she was held up in her house, Sam found herself on that afternoon, changing channels randomly. Halfway through her endless, record-breaking surf on the channels, Sam was stopped dead concentrating her full attention on the national news bulletin in front of her, headed, "A Hero Returns?"

Intrigued, Sam turned the volume up as loud as she could take it. The screen showed a solemn, pale skinned, red-haired woman, with deep brown eyes, wearing a navy-blue business suit, just beginning her report.

"Authorities are still baffled about what may have gone on here only minutes ago. Numerous witnesses have reported sightings of the return of Amity Park's most notorious "Ghost Boy", Danny Phantom. According to these witness' reports, he was spotted battling the equally notorious Vlad Plasmius. These reports have yet to be verif- wait a minute, I'm just now getting word that we have received a home video of the occurrence from an unnamed source. Parents are advised, this video contains sensitive content that may be inappropriate for young children."

At first, the screen was completely blank, then, slowly, but surely a grainy color film came into focus. Hearing Vlad's name in the same sentence as Danny's, Sam froze. Watching the screen intently as it began to clear, she could see the outline of her husband in his ghostly form, darkness surrounding his thin, muscular figure as he stood with his back to the camera, confronting an unseen foe. Loud, and coughs were heard coming from Danny who had almost doubled over. As his head turned briefly toward the camera, his face became visible for the first time Exhaustion, pain, and anger was all written clearly in his expression. Turning his head for a moment, he looked straight into the camera, his already neon green eyes blazing, before he turned back to once again face his enemy. A rough, sinister voice resounded on the video, shouting threats at Danny, who continued to stand his ground.

"I have to give you credit where credit is due Daniel, you are a very determined young man. Unfortunately for you, you are fighting a battle that you can't possibly win, and considering the position that I am now in, I have no choice but to defuse your resistance with the only possible remedy, retaliation."

Suddenly, a white light appeared and slowly enveloped the screen, surrounding Danny who screamed a sharp, blood-curdling, terrible scream. Abruptly, his screams were silenced and when the light disappeared, Danny was nowhere in sight. Still staring at the screen in shock, Sam saw Vlad confidently strode forward, now standing right in front of the camera, a sick, sinister smile which showed his fierce pointed teeth playing on his lips, before he too disappeared in hurricane-like swirl of cherry light cackling as he went.

For one breathless minute, Sam stared at the screen in front of her in shock as the report continued, turning off the T.V. when she could not take it anymore. Almost instantaneously, the phone at her bedside rang, causing Sam to jump. Shaking slightly, she grabbed the receiver. Jazz's frantic voice resounded on the other line.

"Sam, please tell me you haven't seen the news," she pleaded, still trying to calm her voice.

A moment of silence passed between them before Sam who was equally struggling to keep her voice calm, answered her.

"You're about two minutes too late," Sam uttered cynically, still staring firmly at the blank screen in front of her.

"Is there anything I can do," Jazz asked earnestly.

"No," Sam muttered when her mind went blank.

Without even bothering to say goodbye or anything else for that matter, Sam weakly replaced the phone on the receiver, and let her new found exhaustion take her as she drifted into a pain filled sleep. Before Sam knew it, blinding morning light broke her seemingly endless sleep pattern. Not enthused in the least, Sam dragged herself out of her bed and trudged downstairs to try and get something to eat. Determined, Sam settled on a tofu salad, and began to slowly eat, forcing each morsel down her throat.

As days passed, the media began to swarm over Sam in an information hungry frenzy, and soon it took nothing less than legal action to keep them away from her. Despite her best efforts, her stress was beginning to catch up with her. Then it happened.

It was a Saturday afternoon, four days after the news bulletin, when Sam suddenly began to get very sick. During the day, she had been battling diarrhea, (which she had attributed to the change in her diet as a result of her pregnancy), swelling around her stomach, and as the afternoon wore on, Sam began to notice what she recognized as contractions.

When they first began Sam had been able to control them, but as more time passed they became so unbearable that Sam found herself completely immobilized. She had herself straddled over her living room loveseat, and remained there for several hours before she decided she could not take it anymore, and called Jazz. Her hand shook the entire way as she grabbed the phone, holding the speed dial down. Several rings and tense moments later, Jazz answered.

Desperately trying to keep herself as calm as was possible at that point, Sam explained her predicament to Jazz who promptly told to her stay calm and that she was on her way. With nothing else to do, Sam did as she was told, keeping herself in control until fifteen minutes later when Jazz burst through the front door of her house. Smiling, Jazz took one hopeful glance at Sam before helping her out the door and into her car.

The closer they got to the hospital, the worse the contractions became. As they bounded out of the car and into the emergency entrance, Sam who had previously, been dealing with her pain fairly well, began to scream as the pain intensified. Setting Sam gently down on a soft dark red – cushioned chair by the information booth, Jazz went over to inform the receptionist of the situation, who upon hearing it, quickly rushed Sam into the maternity ward.

Hours later, Sam found herself in her own hospital room surrounded by schools of doctors and nurses telling her to push, a command to which she complied to, at first. Then, as she was struggling midway through her fifth push, Danny's face came to her mind. Her heart broke, realizing that he was not there and never would be, she was alone, a widow with a fatherless child. In that knowledge, Sam was tempted to give up right then and there, but she refused, knowing that she would not be the only one affected by her decision, so pushing the thought from her mind, Sam pushed once again, bringing her child into the world. Relief and sweat showing on her face, Sam could barely hear her doctor's voice over her baby's healthy screams.

"It's a girl Mrs. Fenton," the tan, shock- blonde haired, stocky man proclaimed, his aquamarine eyes gleaming with tears as he handed the screaming infant to her mother.

Light brunette hair peaked out of the periwinkle beanie hat she was wearing, her pale, tiny body shifting in Sam's arms, as she began to calm down, wrapping her hand around her mother's outstretched ring finger and proceeding to suck it. Sam was convinced she had never seen a more precious sight in her entire life, the pain that she had gone through only minutes ago nearly forgotten.

Interrupting her thoughts, Sam felt a hand on her shoulder. Snapped back into reality, she turned to see a petite young blonde haired woman in a nurse's uniform, her piercing blue eyes staring straight at Sam.

"Mrs. Fenton, have you decided on a name yet," she asked, gesturing to the clip board in her hands.

Thinking long and hard, Sam let a moment of silence pass between them before she answered her.

"Kati, Kati Daniela Fenton," she replied, a smile playing across her face as she stared back at her daughter, the nurse leaving without another word.

Soon, Sam was informed that as a result of the difficulty of her pregnancy. She would have to stay at the hospital at least for a week, just as a precaution. Thankfully, the next few days passed quickly and uneventfully. Wednesday morning came and Sam found that she was well enough to wander around the hospital, while Kati remained in the nursery.

After striding down the halls aimlessly Sam decided to go down to the hospital's new adult social hall. She could not decide whether it was pathetic or just depressing. Several patients were in the room, either strewn about the overstuffed, comfortable, gold-colored chairs of the room or their own wheelchairs. The only thing even remotely interesting about the entire place was the game tournament going on the back of the room. However seeing that the games were already well underway, Sam decided against it, and sat down on one of the chairs, picking up a book she found in the basket beside her in an attempt to relax. Moments later, movement showing out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. A man had just wheeled himself inside the room and had been situated mere feet from her, his pale, weak form, nearly swallowed by his chair. Sam could have sworn that there was something familiar about him. Intrigued, Sam picked herself out of her own chair and walked slowly toward him. Once she got close enough to him to see his face, Sam's jaw dropped. As she saw before, he was situated weakly in his hospital issued wheelchair, his skin deathly pale, finally noticing her presence he lifted his head to meet her gaze, his electric blue eyes staring at her keenly. It was then that Sam knew, the man sitting in front of her was her husband.

"Danny," she squealed excitedly, trying to be as quiet as possible, wrapping her arms around him.

He did not return her embrace; instead he pulled away from her, staring at her in bewilderment.

"Who are you," he asked her sincerely, looking her in the eye.


	21. Great

Biting her lip to keep herself calm, Sam stared him down once again.

"Danny, it's me, Sam…your wife," she told him.

No change came across his confused expression. She lost herself for a moment in the depths of his still deep cobalt eyes, wondering what had happened to him. He continued to stare at her like she was the strangest thing that he had ever seen. Lost in her own thoughts, Sam could not hear the voice of the nurse coming up behind Danny's wheelchair until she was in plain sight.

"Come on Daniel, it's time to go back to your room," she cooed kindly, grabbing the back of his wheelchair.

He was about to be pushed out the door when he grabbed Sam's arm, stopping his nurse.

"Come with me," he pleaded, staring innocently into her eyes.

Shifting her gaze, Sam stared at the nurse, giving her a questioning glance, looking for a sign of assurance. Smiling she nodded, helping Sam out of her chair, as she dropped her forgotten book back into the basket beside her. Silently, the trio made their way down the hall, stopping at room 343/

"There you go," the nurse cooed gently, as she lifted Danny from his chair, into his bed, pulling the white sheets of it around him tightly, then showing Sam to the evergreen chair by the bed, letting her sit down.

Almost within the exact instant that Danny's head hit the soft pillow beneath him, he fell fast asleep. Silence enveloped the room, only to be snuffled out as Danny began to snore, signifying that he was sleeping peacefully. Entranced, Sam stared at his still form, while she was comforted by the thought that he was still alive, she was also troubled that he could not even remember her. Letting herself be consumed within that peace but for a moment, Sam laid her head down on the sheets, drifting off to sleep as well.

Hours later, Sam awoke to a hand shaking her shoulder. Startled, Sam jolted awake, her gaze immediately shifting in Danny's direction. He had not stirred since she had last seen him. Now confused more then ever Sam's gaze shifted around the room searching for the source of the disturbance, turning in her chair, Sam saw a stately, trim man, his dark skin gleaming as the sunlight streamed on him from the window at his back, matching his dark hair and eyes, accenting his pale white lab coat.

"Who are you," he asked her courtly, curious.

She stared at him intently for a moment through swollen, crimson stained eyes, not able to answer his question. Finally, minutes later, she broke the silence surrounding them to answer him.

"My name is Samantha Fenton," Sam replied distantly.

"Are you a cousin, sister, or…" he inquired but before he could say another word, Sam cut him off.

"I'm his wife," she remarked soberly, moving to grasp Danny's pale, limp hand as the physician began to perform his necessary check-ups.

After yet another unnerving moment of silence passed between the two, Sam spoke up once again.

"What happened to him," she asked, stroking his matted, ebony hair.

Silently, the doctor sat down, beginning his horrendously long explanation.

"He was brought here about two weeks ago by an unnamed source who told us that they found him down in a back alleyway near Carson Street just down the road. For the first few days after he arrived here his condition was touch and go, we weren't even sure that he would make it through his first night. By the end of the first week, it his condition had deteriorated so badly that he had landed in a coma. At about the second week, he woke up. For days he was unresponsive to any kind of stimuli and when he did finally start responding, it became clear that he had lost the majority of his memory retaining capacity with the exception of what had happened to him a few weeks earlier and his own name. Naturally, this was cause for great concern so, I ordered a C.T. scan, and an M.R.I.," he paused for a moment, making Sam shudder with nervousness.

"What did you find," she questioned, biting her lip instantly

"He suffered severe head trauma, a cause for the loss of memory and was also significant damage to his cerebral cortex, causing paralysis from the neck down. Now, as we understand after doing several tests his condition is only temporary and it will clear up once his brain is given a chance to heal. However, it is nearly impossible to tell how long that will take, whether it is days, weeks, months or even years but I am certain that it is temporary. Right now, his prognosis is looking very good, and I would wager to say that it'll probably be a good one or two weeks, for sensation in his limbs to return and a month or two for full recovery, but that's only an estimate, don't get your hopes up," he finished bitterly.

Sam nodded understandingly, turning back toward Danny. Two days later, Sam was released from the hospital along with little Kati. While trying to spend as much time with Kati as she could, she was also watching Danny like a hawk. After nearly a week of repeating the same pattern, his physicians were amazed to see that he was improving at a drastic rate. Saturday morning came and saw Sam off just as every day had for the past week. It was still strange for her to be around him but have him not know who she was. She had brought Kati with this time, hoping to cheer Danny up, who had of late been depressed at his inability to remember her or anything else for that matter. When she entered his room, holding the infant in her arms Danny's facial expression immediately brighten.

"Hey Danny," she piped, sitting down on the chair beside his bed.

He smiled weakly, clutching her hand.

"Who's this," he asked curiously, taking a playful jab at Kati's tiny face. Danny was enthralled with unknowingly _his _little girl, and Kati was equally enthralled with her Daddy, and had not hesitated to accept him as a trusted adult, and began to sleep like a rock.

"This is Kati," she replied, "would you like to hold her," she questioned, holding his daughter out to him.

"May I," he started; Sam nodded reassuringly, placing the newborn in his arms.

His strong arms nearly swallowed his young daughter, as he began to steadily rock her back and forth. A small smile played across Sam's face. Suddenly, Kati squirmed in his grasp, waking up slowly. Sam stared shocked as Kati's eyelids cracked open revealing her shock blue eyes, exact replicas of her father's. Danny's facial expression radiating a look of pure shock, and then, sudden realization as his eyes went wide.

"Danny, are you okay," Sam asked, concerned.

"Sam, she's beautiful," he remarked in a trance-like tone of voice.

He stopped briefly, carefully moving his arm out from underneath his child and gently grabbing Sam's face, kissing her softly on the lips.

"What was that for," Sam muttered after she had caught her breath.

"Not giving up on me," he whispered.

Sam's heart nearly stopped in her chest cavity.

"Danny, do you know who I am," Sam asked excitedly.

"You're Samantha Elizabeth Fenton; you're twenty-two years old. We've been friends since first grade, even dated briefly in high school, before you broke up with me because of my archenemy Vlad Plasmius, we were married about a year ago, and our first child is on the way."

"Danny," Sam whispered pointedly.

"Wait, you don't mean," he shrieked, staring at the child in his muscular arms, "when?"

"A few weeks ago, what happened to you out there," Sam asked.

"I was overrun, apparently Plasmius had more support then I gave him credit for. Things got out of hand and out of my control, and next thing I know, I wake up here, with no memory of how I got there or anything before the fight with the exception of my name."

For a moment, silence enveloped the room as Danny ran out of things to say. Tears trekked down Sam's face stubbornly, as she held him close, determined to never let him slip from her grasp again.


	22. Now it's getting interesting

"Don't ever scare me like that again," Sam muttered crossly.

At that a wry smile stretched across Danny's face.

"I'll try not to," he answered after a brief moment.

Suddenly, a light tap on Sam's shoulder interrupted them.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Fenton, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave, we have a few more tests we'd like to run," uttered a deep voice from behind Sam.

She turned to find the same doctor who had helped her two days ago, standing behind her with a school of other physicians. Understandingly, Sam nodded, rising from her chair. Calmly, she kissed Danny sweetly on the lips, grabbing little Kati from his grasp, and promising her return before turning and walking steadily out of the room.

The next morning Sam awoke to the blinding light of the sun streaming in through her heavy blinds, arising from her bed with a sigh. Dragging herself every step of the way, Sam got out of the bed, tugging its pale white sheets off of her. Staggering, Sam trudged toward her bathroom, readying to freshen up for the day ahead of her. Suddenly, slight wailing coming from Kati's room knocked her swiftly out of her slumber induced stupor. Quickening her pace, Sam strode into the room, cracking the door open.

As she approached Kati's cradle, the infant's wailing intensified, until Sam picked her up, sat down on the rocking chair in the corner of the room and rocked her back and forth. Within a few moments, the steadying of the infant's breathing let Sam know that Kati was sleeping soundly again. Just as she was about to put her back in her cradle, Sam stopped and looked down at her sleeping daughter. She was an absolute perfect physical copy of her husband; however, what little attitude she was already displaying was a direct trait from her. Noticing that Kati was resting peacefully, Sam gently lowered her back into her cradle, before walking out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind her. Tiptoeing down the hallway, Sam walked to her kitchen trying to figure out how orchestrate her day.

Seeing Danny was her first priority but she would have to wait until Kati woke up again later on in the morning, otherwise she would be fussy for the rest of the day. So for the time being, Sam busied herself with making her breakfast and cleaning the house. Finally at about ten o' clock, Sam was startled out of her routine cleaning by the slight wail of an infant coming from Kati's room. Dropping what she had been doing, Sam rushed into the room finding that her daughter was once again, wide awake.

Staring at the clock once again, Sam quickly got Kati dressed and out to the car. Reaching the hospital in record time, Sam climbed out of her car, taking Kati with her. Moments later, Sam found herself walking down a familiar ward to Danny's room. Cautiously, she cracked the door open, smiling when she saw her husband, lying on the bed in the middle of the room. His souring expression immediately brightened when he saw her.

"I have good news," he uttered blissfully as she sat down.

"What," Sam asked excitedly staring at him.

"They're sending me home today," he exclaimed with equal intensity, as he smiled.

"When did they say you could leave," she questioned, unsure.

"Actually I was going to call you, they said I could leave anytime, I just needed to get a ride."

Causing a rather obvious disruption to their solitude, Danny's physician walked into the room. Watching the two of them intently, he smiled, before turning toward Sam.

"Mrs. Fenton, nice to see you again," he reacted, now turning to face Danny.

"And you it seems, are free to go," he piped, motioning to the orderly behind him who was holding a standard wheelchair in her hands. Beaming, Sam put Kati down in her carrier and helped Danny get dressed before helping him into the wheelchair. Once they had gotten through the ridiculous amount of paperwork, they managed to make it in the car. Barely able to contain her excitement, Sam slid into the front seat after putting Danny in the seat beside her and Kati in the back.

For a ridiculously excruciating length of time, not a word passed between the two of them, until finally, Sam broke the silence between them.

"I know what you thinking," Sam uttered in a near whisper taking her eyes of the road for a moment to gaze at her husband.

He sat limply on the seat beside her, staring blankly out the window in front of him with all the intensity that he could muster. Getting no response out of him whatsoever, Sam continued.

"Sometimes I think I know you too well Danny. You want to go back; you can't stand the thought of Plasmius believing that he finally won, you're afraid of what he'll do."

With her last statement, Danny's head turned briefly toward her, anger and pain written in his expression,

"Sam I misjudged him once and I can't afford to make that mistake again," he whispered, before returning to his previous position.

"Danny, I don't want you to worry about that right now, you've got to save your strength _while you still can_," the last part of her statement came out in little more than a whisper.

"Don't worry about me Sam," Danny stated confidently, giving her a reassuring disarming smile.

"I can't help it," Sam whispered, focusing once again on the road in front of her.

Before Danny could reply, the car pulled into the familiar driveway of their house. Not saying a word but undoubtedly still troubled, Sam climbed out of her own seat, unbuckled Kati's carrier and moved to help Danny out of his seat. After setting Kati down in her bedroom, she strode to the bedroom that she and Danny shared; finding Danny had already sprawled himself out on their king- sized bed, its crimson sheets strewn about his body in a flurry. Silently she sat down at the edge of the bed, causing Danny to carefully rise up next to her, automatically putting his arm around her shoulders.

"I don't want to talk about it," she told him resolutely, not wanting to deal with a fight on top of everything else. 'We'll worry about it when the time comes."

Time passed slowly and everything seemed to be going smoothly, Danny had been healing well, and Sam's dreams of being a veterinarian were realized, everything was fine, until, the remnants of Danny's own shattered dreams resurfaced. Word reached their ears that NASA was hiring again. Knowing that his dreams of being an astronaut were as good as unreachable, Danny set his sights on the job of ground controller. After weeks of deliberation between the two of them, Sam finally gave in, and put her dreams aside so that someone would be home to watch Kati. A month later, the couple found out that Danny's application had been accepted, an interview ensued, and he was hired for the job, he was to start that Monday.

Monday morning came much sooner than Sam would have liked and right before the crack of dawn, Sam was unwillingly saying goodbye to her husband before watching him drive an hour away from their home. Luckily, Tucker had also been recently hired as a technologist, and would be working not far from Danny's own office, which made Sam breathe a little easier.

For several hours, Sam tried to busy herself, but in the end found that all that she could do was basically stare at the clock. Resolved, Sam decided to wash the dishes that overcrowded the sink, letting her mind once again wander. Hours later, the incessant ring of the phone startled her out of her daze. Dropping the dish that she had been washing and scrubbing her hands dry, Sam ran to grab the phone from the wooden table in the living room.

When she turned the phone on the first thing that she heard was Tucker's voice, breaking as he tried to keep composed on the other line.

"Sam," he finally yelled worriedly, multiple crashes resounding in the background causing him to break his speech several times.

"Tuck, I can hear you fine, what's going on," she asked fiercely, now grabbing the phone.

"Vlad's back, he is going after Danny," he replied in a near shriek.

That was all he had to say before Sam hung up the phone, grabbing Kati from her room and running out to her car. Several tense minutes later Sam pulled into the driveway of NASA's Illinois- based command center. Adrenaline ran through her veins when she saw an several police squad cars parked right in front of the center. Moving as quickly as she could with Kati in her arms, Sam ran inside. Finding her way to the front of the building, Sam was met with a human brick wall. Pushing her way through the building, Sam heard an all too familiar shrill cry of agony resounding from the end of the building. Quickening her pace even more Sam pushed herself even harder through the crowd that had apparently formed around the brawl. Sure enough, there was the ghost that Sam hated more than anything else in the world, Vlad Plasmius, standing over the beaten and bruised form of her husband. Tucker, as Sam was almost glad to find, was standing poised right across from her, and upon seeing Sam ran to her side. It was all Sam could do to keep from jumping into the fight herself as she watched Danny stagger to his feet only to be thrown against the back wall by Plasmius with a sickening bone-crushing crash. Gratefully, after what felt like an eternity of traded punches, she saw Vlad disappear out of thin air, leaving Danny lying motionless on the floor. Forgetting the consequences of doing so, Sam ran toward him. His face was pale and wounds were evidenced all over his body, he was unconscious.

"Would somebody call for help," Sam yelled desperately to the crowd that was now forming around the two of them.

Almost instantly, hundreds of cell phones seemed to emerge at once.

"Hold on Danny, you're going to make it," Sam muttered reassuringly, holding Kati who had started crying, in a better grip.

Hearing her voice, Danny's eyes shot open, staring at her as he tried to speak.

"Sam," he tried, gently holding his chest.

Somehow, Sam immediately understood what he was trying to tell her. Before she could do anything about it, the front automatic doors of the center slid open revealing a group of young, prepares paramedics surrounding a stretcher, as the crowd divided like the Red Sea, they immediately ran toward Sam and Danny with unmatched speed. A gruff auburn-haired paramedic carefully pried Danny away from Sam's protective grasp. Trying her best to keep from being frantic, Sam rose from where she was sitting and began to follow the stretcher that was now carrying Danny into the ambulance Just as she was about to bound inside the ambulance its wide white and red doors shut quickly in her face. Disgruntled, to say the least, Sam ran in the direction of her car while simultaneously ordering Tucker to have Danny's car towed to their house.

Desperate to keep herself calm, Sam ran to her own car, carefully placing Kati in her car seat before jumping into the driver's seat of the car and gunning the engine. Driving with the expertise and precision of a surgeon, she kept the ambulance's track, but was soon watching it speed away into the distance as she remained encased in traffic with no way out. With each minute that passed, Sam became even more agitated.

At last, she made it to her first turn away from the traffic. By then the ambulance had sped so far ahead of her that it took nothing less than guesswork to get her to the right hospital. Running out of options, she pulled into the first hospital she saw, a quant tan medical center that sat surrounded by an assortment of oak and spruce trees that stood poised over it like beastly giants over a medieval castle. Trepidation crept into her as she pulled into the already crowded parking lot. Once again, Sam found herself stumbling out her own car, taking Kati's carrier with her. As she burst through the front entrance, she found every eye in the room trained on her. Sheepishly, she slowed her steps (only slightly) and headed toward the reception desk.

The woman behind the counter reminded Sam somewhat of her grandmother. Her grey hair had been pulled behind her face in a tight ponytail, her piercing green eyes peering at Sam through fogged bifocals.

"May I help you," Sam finally heard her ask rather irritably.

"I hope so," Sam uttered nervously, "I'm looking for Daniel Fenton, a man who was probably brought in here only minutes ago."

"The young fellow with black hair?" Sam nodded.

"He's down the hall to your left in the trauma ward," the woman replied reassuringly, motioning to her left.

Solemnly, Sam nodded, thanking the woman before bounding down the hall. When she turned the knob she was surprised to find the room completely empty… almostIt did not take long before Sam recognized the sickly form of her husband sleeping submersed in the usual sea of pale white sheets, tubes, and monitoring cords. Sinking into the worn maroon leather chair beneath her, Sam could not bring herself to believe that this was happening to her _again_.

For hours she sat at his bedside, with little interruption. Finally, at four in the morning, a physician stopped into Danny's room. He was a lanky man with dull, emotionless dark eyes that pierced into her mercilessly, but after that initial encounter man paid her virtually no mind as he checked the various tubes and monitoring machines attached to her husband before briefly testing his reflexes and responsiveness. After doing this, he walked toward the door, giving Sam a sympathetic smile before leaving.

Several hours passed before Sam found herself doing the very thing that she knew that she did not want to do. She had to leave, Kati had gotten restless, and Sam found herself beginning to get concerned about what effect staying in the hospital had on her. So, reluctantly, Sam rose from where she had situated herself and kissed Danny's furrowed forehead, walking away calmly. Stumbling, Sam found her way to her car and drove off in the direction of Jazz's house. Twenty minutes later, she had pulled up in her driveway. Rapidly, she knocked on the door and it was answered by a still half- sleeping Jazz. Once Sam had given a brief explanation of what had happened and what she needed Jazz immediately took Kati from Sam's arms without question before shooing Sam out the door kindly. She immediately obliged, once again rushing to her car. Tears blurred her vision once again as she focused on the road in front of her. Suddenly, as she turned into a lone corner a white light blared in her face. Blinded, Sam briefly felt herself lose control of her vehicle before she felt nothing.

Nine in the morning came before Danny was awakened by the shrill ring of what he first perceived as an alarm, but as became more aware of his surroundings he realized that it was only the phone at his side. Grumbling under his breath, he turned himself over his bedside to answer it.

A breathy voice began to echo on the other line, one that immediately sent chills up Danny's spine.

"I have your wife."

"_Danny" _ he heard a familiar voice scream in the distance. "_don't listen to him_" she whispered. _Sam._


	23. The Showdown Begins

Blinking, Sam's vision blurred into focus as she adjusted to her surroundings, she was straddled carelessly on the cold, concrete floor. Shifting, she tried to stand, only to feel a sharp pain in her arms and legs, protesting every movement as she realized that her hands were chained behind her back. Trepidation filled as she realized where she was, she had been here before, it was Vlad's newly modified lab and holding facility. At that realization her eyes went wide, she had to get out of there. In her desperate attempt at freedom her arms and legs flailed, attempting to rip themselves from the wall. It was not long before she had completely exhausted herself with the effort and found herself falling into a deep dreamless sleep.

How many hours had passed since then, Sam could not tell, neither could she bring herself to begin to care. Jolted instantly into a higher state of awareness Sam heard a commotion erupt from behind what she now realized was the front door. Out of the blue, it burst open in front of her with a resounding _CRASH! _

A burly, ghostly entity stormed through the opening carrying the heavy load of a full grown man. His lone yellow eye stared at her with brutality as he dropped the forlorn figure on the ground before chaining him to the wall in the same manner that Sam had been, leaving the room with hardly even a sigh.

Once they were alone, Sam cautiously got up and strode as much as her chains would allow her to see who he was, though there was a sinking feeling in her stomach that told her that she already knew who he was. Who else would be locked in the same cell with her? Brushing the raven hair out of his face, she recognized through what little light they had, the worn, beaten form of her husband. With that realization, Sam's heart nearly stopped, a low gasp emitting from her body. It was difficult for her to even imagine what kind of torture he must have gone through at the hands of their captors. Suddenly, a low groan escaped his lips alerting Sam that he was beginning to come to.

"Danny, come on, get up," she cooed kindly, hoping to rouse him further.

Finally, his crystal blue eyes flew open, their gaze shifting lazily and unfocusedly around the room before settling in her direction.

"Sam," he questioned wordlessly as he raised himself painfully to a sitting position.

"I told you not to go after me."

"Since when has that ever stopped me," Danny uttered, a smug smile playing on his lips.

"True," Sam muttered dryly.

Several tense minutes passed between the two, translating into hours of bated silence until once again, the door crashed open. The same brutal entity tromped through their cell.

"Phantom," the specter grumbled under his breath, "Masters needs you."

Realizing that there was little that she could do to stop him, Sam was forced to simply watch as Danny was harshly carted off to meet whatever fate Vlad had in store for him. How many hours had passed since then, she could not tell. Her head up sharply jerked as the front door opened once again. Sam watched silently as the same burly guard pushed his way through the cell and unchained her before grabbing her from where she was sitting and dragging her out the door, her vision fading as she suddenly succumbed to the pull of unconsciousness.

When she awoke not but a few hours later she tried to shake away the stars that clouded her vision, and once they cleared Sam immediately noticed that she was in a completely different cell, darker than the last with a small T.V. in the center of it. Puzzled, she stared at it for a moment before resigning herself to the cold, stone bed in the corner, and before she knew what hit her falling fast asleep.

Only a few minutes had passed when Sam was awoken by a noise that scared the living daylights out of her. Opening her eyes warily, Sam expected to see the devil in Vlad's form standing over her, but found the room empty. Upon further inspection, Sam realized that something had changed in the room; the T.V. had fizzled to life. Squinting in the dark, Sam could clearly recognize the outline of her husband's archenemy forming on the once blank screen. Staring blankly at the screen Sam recognized the familiar agonized yell of her husband as Plasmius sent his trademark magenta energy blast toward the left side of the screen just as the camera panned back to show the rest of the room. Sure enough, kneeling in the center of that stone wall cell at the foot of Vlad's mercy was her husband, his body smoking like a steam bath as he passed out, crumpling limply to the floor once again as the screen suddenly faded out.

For a moment, Sam stared blankly at the now calm black screen as if willing it to turn back on and show her his fate. Heartbroken, Sam was forced to surrender to the harsh reality of what had happened; there was nothing that she could do. A sharp wrap on the door alerted her that her guard was coming into her cell. Like a light bulb suddenly going on, Sam's otherwise defeated psyche hatched an idea, she could not give up.

As the burly guard headed toward her with the tray of slop that was her lunch, she lunged at him, tackling him to the ground as he came toward her before he even knew what hit him, used his keys to unchain herself and shoved him inside the cell after stealing his bulky uniform that covered her from head to toe and then some. Finally she used the key that she had stolen from his belt and locked him inside, tucking the keys into her back pocket before brandishing her newfound weapon. Somewhat unsure of what to do next, she bounded down the endless hallways, eventually wandering aimlessly when next she knew, she ran straight into the same burly guard that had taken Danny from her. It was all she could do to keep from panicking as he raised his hand toward her.

"Buzz, what are you doing over here? You were due at prisoner 923's cell an hour ago," he yelled, grabbing her arm and pulling her close to him.

Thinking fast, Sam mentally adjusted her voice, lowering it a few pitches.

"Prisoner 792 was looking for trouble, he had to be dealt with," she stated in a voice that she was surprised to find, matched his own brutality.

He stared at her suspiciously for one breathless moment before yielding and allowing her to pass.

"Very good, carry on," his voice echoed as she ran hurriedly away him.

Tension forced her muscles to remain rigid as she slowed to a normal pace as she strode down the cell block, looking for the cell that he had listed so she could at least appear to be doing what she told. By the time she had made it to the seven hundred's Sam was on the verge of a collapse. Tiredly, she once again grabbed the keys that were hidden in her back pocket, trepidation filling her when she realized that she had no idea what was behind the door that she was about to open. Grabbing her weapon and holding it even closer to her, she strode into the room. Stone walls surrounded her just as they had in her own cell, a lone stone slab of a bed sitting on the back wall of the room, holding the prisoner who had been hidden by a haggard, thin black blanket, his wrists being the only thing visible as they hung from their chains. Swallowing the bile that threatened to escape her mouth, she gently pulled the blanket back. Shock shot through her like a lightening bolt as she took in the sight before her. Her prisoner had been curled into an almost fetal position, the dark, thick substance surrounding him offsetting his nearly chalk white skin. Sluggishly, he immerged from unconsciousness at her touch, his eyelids flying open to reveal his exhausted, bloodshot azure eyes.

"Are you going to get it over with or are you just going to stand there gawking," he asked defiantly, covering his head with his arms as if to shield from any attack that she had in mind.

"Danny, I'm not going to hurt you," Sam answered reassuringly, kneeling down putting a protective hand on his shoulder as she got a better look at his face, to assure herself that he was in fact, her husband.

Realization played on his face when he saw her clearly for the first time.

"Sam, what are you doing he—" he tried to ask, but before he could finish Sam put a hand over his mouth, cutting him off.

"I'm going to get you out of here, now play along," she whispered.

"How did you make it out," he questioned, as though he had not even heard her command.

"My guard wasn't exactly an Einstein," she answered smugly, "and having a husband with ghostly enemies did help some," she started to finish, but stopped almost instantaneously as she was alerted to the footsteps of someone coming toward her.

"Buzz, are you done yet, we need you in Sector 5," the same harsh voice of the man that she had met earlier declared with annoyance.

"Not yet, I have orders from Master's to transfer him to a surreptitious location."

"I have no record of that order," he declared sternly, staring at the clipboard in his hands.

"It was directed at me, because I was on the next shift to be his guard and Masters didn't think anyone else needed to know," she answered vilely.

"Well would you hurry up; I have a schedule to keep."

"Get me a ship; I have to get this prisoner ready to be transferred," she uttered gruffly, expecting an argument.

Instead, he simply bowed out with a simple "as you wish."

Watching him disappear down the hall, Sam turned her attention back toward Danny.

"Now the question is how I am going to get you from here to the docking bay," she finally asked apprehensively.

"I'll walk," he uttered confidently, only causing Sam to stare at him worriedly.

"Danny," she whispered, knowing that he was in no shape to do so however, if there was one thing that has always been Danny's trademark, it was his ability to be stubborn no matter what. "You have to at least let me help."

"Alright," he muttered in defeat.

After doing a great deal of convincing Sam managed to get Danny to his feet, holding his hands that were still chained behind his back and pushing him forward gently. Once they were outside the cell, Sam's persona immediately changed to the vicious guard she had made herself out to be, looking as though she was roughly forcing him down the hall when half the time she was helping him move his own feet. Surprised that she had done so, Sam found her way to the hangar where the ship that was promised her was residing. It had to have been one of the most gargantuan ships she had ever seen, its silver lining and plush inside ensuring that it was also one of the most expensive. Taking care, Sam laid Danny down in the sick bay in the back of the ship, before rushing up to the cockpit and preparing to take off. Within minutes, they were soaring through the sky. Several hours passed and Sam had to smile smugly, they had done it. She was just about to cross them into Illinois when the entire ship rocked, pitching forward. Startled to say the least, Sam gazed into the direction of the blast, behind them was another ship about ten times the size of the one that she was flying, sleekly covered in black. Through the tiny opening of the cockpit, Sam saw Vlad Plasmius controlling the ship with a confident smile. Shock overtook her when she discovered he was not alone. Along with an entire battalion of sickly green sinister guards stood Dark Dan his face reflecting his own confident smirk.


	24. So It Starts

There was a single moment when Sam allowed the sheer panic of what was about to happen overtake her, before she swallowed it and turned her attention to the weapons console in front of her. The entire ship rocked with momentum as Sam sent a Spectral Cannon hurtling toward the enemy, setting off a fiery explosion that completely shrouded her view of anything in front of her. When the smoke from the explosion cleared, there was nothing but clear blue sky in her field of vision. Determined, she sped away from the area as fast as her ship would allow.

Several knots later, she was assured that it was at least safe enough for her to step away from the cockpit and set the ship on auto-pilot. She trudged through the ship like an inmate on death row until she reached the sick bay. He was right where she left him, sleeping soundly on his cot. Silently, she began to work on dressing his wounds. It was only a matter of minutes before she was finished.

Noting that she should be getting back toward the cockpit she stood up to leave until movement from behind her caused her to slow her steps and turn around. His breathing had changed from smooth and even to heavy and rough, and he was not still anymore. From where he lay he thrashed violently, writhing in pain. Adrenaline now rushed through her in surges as she digested the scene in front of her. After sifting through a mess of medical supplies and drawers she got to the bottom drawer and found the painkiller. Moving efficiently, she used what little medical training she had endured in college and injected it into his arm, causing his spasms to cease. Seeing him still, Sam breathed a sigh of relief, and a prayer of thanks, while still wondering what might have caused his spell.

Dragging herself forcefully away, she made it to the cockpit. Switching off the auto-pilot she took the controls and led the ship until the familiar skyline of shops and skyscrapers told her that she had finally reached Amity Park, they were home. Before her, a familiar sign stood out. Jutting out of the clouds like one last glimmering beacon of hope, in all its neon green glory stood Fenton Works. Feeling a perpetual sense of joy, Sam maneuvered the ship over the concealed docking bay of the house, coming in closer until the ground opened up beneath her and she could get the ship inside.

As soon as they had landed, and she made sure that she had completely shut off the mechanics of the ship she bounded down the hall toward the sick bay to go and see if Danny was in any shape to come with her. When she reached the bay, she silently crept toward his cot; he was still out cold, sleeping peacefully as he laid there. For a moment she stood there, transfixed she watched him sleep, debating on whether or not she should wake him up. In the end she decided that it would be best to let him sleep. Making sure that he was secure, she swiftly left the sick bay and made her way into the hangar. Once she was inside it, she searched until she found the back door. Curious, she jiggled the handle, she knew from experience that it was always locked; still it was worth a try. Slowly, she jiggled it one more time, and to her surprise, the door cracked open as if on its own the brilliant light of the house radiating through the pitch black hangar.

In all honesty, she was not ready to face the lecture that she would undoubtedly receive from Jazz for leaving Kati there the whole time. She could only hope that Jazz would understand. Turning around to shut the door, Sam let out a gasp of fear when an unfamiliar hand gripped her back, before turning her around to face its source. Sure enough, there was Jazz, looking as though she had not slept in days.

Neither woman spoke as they both stared at each other for one breathless second, until Jazz encase Sam in a bone-crushing hug, knocking the wind swiftly out of her lungs. Searching Jazz's face, Sam saw worry etched on her forehead.

"Where have you been," Jazz asked, finally breaking the silence between the two of them, "the hospital called me two days ago, they told me that Danny disappeared."

Right where she stood she froze, taking Sam's shoulders gently.

"Sam, do you know where he is," she questioned worriedly, looking her straight in the eye.

Sam did not as much as blink when she answered.

"He's in the ship that I borrowed from Vlad."

"Vlad took him," Jazz shrieked, fear and shock creeping into her voice.

"He took us both, but we have bigger problems. He's been building a prison block by his lab, that's where he kept us, it was pretty well established. I'm afraid that he might have something planned for Danny, he set Dark Dan free…"

Stopping mid-sentence, Sam heard the wail of a familiar infant, bearing it for only a second before rushing down the hall toward it. Sam took but a moment, giving her a questioning glance before Jazz pointed up the stairs toward Danny's old room. She cracked the door open only slightly, just enough for Sam to see her daughter curled up in Danny's blankets, her long black hair the only thin completely visible, her wailing still audible. Carefully, Sam took her daughter in her arms, the shrill wails that the infant had been producing becoming nothing more than slight whimpers as she rocked her back and forth, easing her back into dream world. Carrying her off gently being careful to not let her fall asleep, Sam made her way down the stairs. Suddenly, before she even knew what had hit her, Sam blacked out, her body falling limply to the wall, Kati falling out of her arms unprotected.

Coming to, Sam saw Kati, lying a few feet away from where she had been once again, crying. Concerned, she rushed over to her daughter. Thankfully her cries seemed more out of fear than of pain, as nothing physical was evidence anywhere on her. Clutching Kati in her arms, Sam stood up, wandering aimlessly as she yelled for Jazz wondering what had happened to her.

Wrinkling her nose when the smell reached it, Sam took a whiff of the familiar scent of fire. Panic now guiding her every movement, Sam ran off in the direction of the scent. It led her to the docking bay on the side of the house. Flames were now licking the sides of the small building. In the light of the fire Sam gazed, and saw the charred remains of Vlad's once proud ship. Anguish rushed through her, only to be replaced by fear when she felt a hand grab on her foot. Terror ridden, she looked down only to be met by a familiar face, his pale blue eyes staring at her sadly as he attempted to raise himself to a sitting position, his body not cooperating. Finally giving up, he settled on just trying to talk to her.

"Sam," his weakened voice uttered, causing her to stoop down to his level so she could hear him. "They're here."


	25. And It All Comes Down

"_Danny_," she shrieked, dropping down to his level. "Are you okay, who's here," her inquires flew out in on confusing slur.

"Vlad, he's brought an army with him," he muttered.

For the second time that day, Sam felt a sense of panic surge through her like lightening as she tried to comprehend what he had told her, shortly accompanied by an overwhelming sense of adrenaline, one that went into a sense of overdrive when she felt a hand on her arm. Danny was still there, having made it far up enough to sit upright, and was now attempting to stand, heaving a great deal of his weight on her for support.

"Danny… please don't," Sam shrieked

He paused for a moment, once he had gotten on his feet and held her arms gently as partially leaned on her just for support, staring at her in all sincerity.

"I have to. go into Mom and Dad's room. Lock the door and don't come out until I call for you."

Her eyes told him that what he had told her to do was the last thing that she wanted to do, but nevertheless, she held tightly to their daughter, flashing her husband a heartrending smile, before bounding swiftly into the room he had instructed her to. If it were not for the fact that Kati would have been left on her own, Sam would have ignored Danny's command completely and went out to fight along side him. Nevertheless, there she was cowering behind the mahogany bedroom door, waiting for the thunderous crashes that were echoing outside of it to subside.

They continued to echo throughout the house showing no signs of stopping, they only intensified, growing louder and more frequent, cut off only briefly by her husband's pained yells. Shortly after, the unfortunately familiar cry of Plasmius filled the entire house, as once again, the intensity of the explosions increased. Hearing them echo closer accompanied by the incessant _thud _of footsteps Sam thought for one terrifying second that they may have figured out that she was there and were ready to ambush her, this thought was completely disregarded though, when the footsteps stopped just short of the door and Sam heard the determined voice of her husband, taunting his enemy, causing the footsteps to carry swiftly and safely away from her location, the fight intensifying once again. Just when Sam figured it could not get any worse, one final scream erupted, coming from her husband and carrying enough power and agony for one to assume that his life had surely ended right there, the small room that Sam had hid herself and her daughter in finally registering nothing but complete, and utter silence.

Clutching Kati closer to herself, hiding her beneath the folds of her jacket, she lifted a trembling hand to the doorknob. A cloud of filthy dust is what met her when she cautiously stepped out of her "cement prison." Once it finally cleared, there was rubble as far as her eyes could see, the sun peaking out through the sizable hole that had been made in the roof. Neither Danny nor Vlad were anywhere to be seen; however, Sam did not have enough time to think about that since she suddenly remembered that she had not seen Jazz either. She had to find her. Stepping carefully through the rubble that was her husband's childhood home, Sam heard a noise that stopped her suddenly; a feminine, feral cry for help. Quickening her pace once again, Sam ran toward its source. Around the corner of the once living room something finally stood out to Sam, a familiar wad of strawberry blonde hair accompanied by strained aquamarine eyes, she had found Jazz. Luckily, she was still conscious as she lay sprawled uselessly on the blue glossy linoleum floor, her baby boy her lying on the floor not but a few feet away from her. Sam had to breathe a prayer of thanks when she noticed that just from what she could see he was seemingly unharmed by the blast.

Knowing that time was of the essence, Sam grabbed the infant under her right arm, before going over to Jazz and attempting to get her up from where she lay. The first few tries, Jazz had been far too disoriented to make it to more than a sitting position. Finally, she made it, adjusting her equilibrium so that she could stay standing while she took her baby boy from Sam's grasp, staring at her incredulously for one breathless second.

"Where's Danny," the first question came from Jazz, who had finally been able to open her mouth to speak.

Sam could not answer her. In all of her hurry to find Jazz, she had _almost _completely forgotten about Danny. Her voice hitched slightly as her gaze met the floor trying to answer Jazz's question without letting on that she was really worried.

"I don't know, he disappeared after he went to fight Vlad," her voice trembled more than she would have liked as she spoke, but she found herself unable to make it sound any more sure than she already had.

When Sam lifted her head, a look of instantaneous determination hardened her features as she stared into Jazz's fearful aqua blue eyes.

"Jazz, I have to find him, if Vlad took him there's no telling what they'll be doing right about now. Call someone and get help…"

A low, weak voice suddenly interrupted her worried vocalizations, as (despite its weakness) it echoed through out the entire house.

"_Sam…" _it was an eerie, almost pathetic sounding inquiry, but Jazz and Sam immediately recognized the speech pattern and ran to its source.

It led them to what looked like yet another pile of complete rubble, until they looked closer, and recognized something undoubtedly different, a pale, familiar hand sticking out of the mess, desperately trying to grasp something solid so he could pull himself out. Noticing his struggle, Sam grabbed a hold of his hand, making him aware of her presence as she whispered soothing words where she thought he could hear her, while Jazz worked on getting the slabs of concrete that had pinned him to the ground and hidden him from their view off of him.

At last, the final slab was pulled loose, revealing a wearied and obviously hurt Danny Fenton. Sam's eyes burst wide as saucers with sympathy when she saw his mangled form, letting go of his hand so she could wrap her arms around him being careful to miss the once again gaping wounds on his chest. For a brief moment he let his hand rest on her back, content to keep it there while he comforted his wife. Their serenity did not last long however, as yet another explosion rocked through the already badly damaged house. Without a second thought, Danny yanked Jazz to the floor earning a pained yelp from the woman while he turned the three of them and their children intangible, the scattered debris of the house falling harmlessly through them.

After what seemed like an eternity, the last of the debris settled, allowing Sam time to ease her body off from on top of Danny, who was now panting heavily from the effort that it took to keep them all intangible.

"Are you okay," she asked, staring at him one more time.

The sight of him was enough to bring Sam back down to her knees. It was only then that she noticed his eyes were closed, his body pale, colored only by the grapefruit-sized bruises and the rivulets of blood that dotted his extremities. A few of his bones stuck out, leading her to believe that they had most likely been broken. An isolated jolt of adrenaline shot through her as she felt a hand on the back of her shoulder. Jazz now stood behind her, offering her support even as worry clouded her own vision. Gently, Sam took Danny in her arms despite the blood and soot that threatened to ruin her clothes, whispering in his ears in an attempt to rouse him from his unconscious state. She was about to resort to slapping him when a distant rumble interrupted her efforts.

Once again, Sam felt herself being pulled to the ground, knocked swiftly by the next procession of explosions that rocked through the house. Echoing, hard footsteps jarred her out of her stupor moments later as they drifted closer and closer toward her. Next thing Sam knew, she was hurled into the air, only coming to rest when her back hit hard on the wall behind her, causing her to fall limply to the ground. Before she could even grasp what was happening to her, she felt her consciousness slip away, dissolving into nothing but a dreamless void.


	26. The Ultimatum

A/N- I decided you guys needed a filler. This is an actual new chapter I was planning on it being longer, but the thought process is simply taking too long, let me know what you think )

As she gradually began to come to, shaking the stars that clouded her vision away, the first thing she noticed was that she was in the same terrifying, medieval cell that she felt she had only just escaped from. Rain pounded on the roof above her in a relentless melody, reaching its climax that only a second later was broken off by an all too familiar scream of agony. Panic gripped her viciously, causing her to thrash violently against the metal bonds that held her securely to the wall. They creaked of force and age, but did nothing to break her free. Her chest heaving with exhaustion and a desperate need for air, Sam ceased her efforts for the time being. Drained of any form of energy that she possessed in the first place, Sam allowed her eyes to fall shut.

When her vision finally blurred into focus what could only have been minutes later, she felt a surge of horror pulsate through her veins. She was no longer in her cell, but an enormous room, chained to its wall just as she had been to her cell. Standing there in front of her was the man who may as well have been Satan himself; in fact, as far as Sam was concerned, he was. Looking her straight in the eyes contempt glimmering in his gaze, Vlad sneered at her, obviously conceited about his accomplishments.  
Plasmius," she uttered painfully, her disdain for the man leaking venomously out of her voice. Her face hardened considerably as she looked her worst enemy in the eye.

"What have you done with Danny," she demanded, her voice elevated to a near shriek.

Plasmius himself did not so much as attempt to shrink away at her forcefulness as he turned to his left side floating over what looked like a light switch. Sure enough, the minute that he flipped it on, the entire room was illuminated with a light that when compared to the vast darkness that had previously encompassed the both of them, could have been mistaken for the Sun itself. Blinking as her vision switched in and out of focus, Sam could clearly see the frail form of her husband, chained in the same matter that she had been against the opposite wall. A sturdy, stoic guard stood poised next to him, his massive arms, held a sinister whip made of broken pieces of glass that had already been covered in rivulets of blood that fell to the floor in patters. They were crossed in annoyance as he stared at her with his cold, luminous ice blue eyes.  
While Sam was temporarily distract by the guard's antics, an electric shock gun appeared in the palm of Vlad's hand and Sam was forced to stare in horror as it whirred to life, sending a deadly electrical pulse toward her causing her to emit an earth-shattering cry of agony, (one that tore like a knife through Danny's heart, ripping it to shreds) while she writhed against the chains that held her forcefully to the wall. Over the intensity of her own screams, Sam heard the tantalizing voice of her tormentor, whispering insults in her ear that only she could hear.

"Did you think I was blind? He'd give up his own life for you, in essence by torturing you, I hold the key to his will, and I can get him to do whatever I want,'" his cold voice sneered.

Though she tried to push his words into the back of her mind, from what she knew about her husband he could not have been more right. From then on she fought to contain the new surge of pain coursing through her that threatened to draw a new shrill cry of agony out of her. She kept up the charade for what felt like hours on end until she could take it no longer and her undomesticated shriek pierced the air, carrying every hurt, and every pain that Vlad had put her through.  
Amidst the noise, Sam could scarcely recognize the second voice that had joined in her chorus, screaming with the same intensity she was, only his scream was masculine and deep as he begged Vlad to stop, a command to which he complied, stopping to stare triumphantly at Danny's distraught figure.  
So, you are even weaker than I supposed, pathetic," his voice sneered, "luckily for you, I'm feeling up to negotiations, so here's the deal, I will give you two days during which time you will amass your own army while I amass mine. At the end of the two days, both armies will do battle. If you win, I will go into the Ghost Zone, and will never bother you or your family again, but if I win…," he paused for a moment, a satisfied sneer crossing his face, "Because I am such a forgiving man, I will still allow your family to be set free but you, you will stay here as my slave, like the rest of them."  
The conniving villain's proclamation was instantaneously blocked out by frantic shouts echoing from the other side of the room, coming from Sam as she attempted to dissuade her husband from making a rash decision.

"Danny, you have got to know by now that the last thing that I want you to do is to give into him. We'll find another way out of this..." her voice trailed off.  
A split second passed as the couple stared at each other, enveloped in a silence so complete the sound of a feather falling to the ground would have carried the intensity of a nuclear bomb exploding.

"Where's Kati," both parents shouted simultaneously, their hysteria only making Plasmius' sadistic grin increase.

"Oh, your precious brat? Don't worry, she's safe," he sneered, motioning for someone that was concealed in the midst of the shadows.

A sudden creak of a stone door cracking open resounded throughout the entire room, directing its occupants gaze to the source of the disturbance. Out of the darkness emerged a ghostly entity whose slightly vulnerable face, resembled shrouded moonlight, the wails of the squirming toddler he held resolutely in his slender arms adding to the sudden explosion of racket that was already present in the room, that had escalated to a dull roar.

"You're trying my patience, Daniel. What is your decision?"

With his words, Danny lifted his gaze and Sam saw the undeniable evidence of defeat clearly written out in his facial expression.

"Danny please don't," she yelled harshly, her words seemingly forgotten even as they left her lips, only determination hardened his features as they transformed into a look of pure stubbornness.

"I'll do it," he whispered in a voice so low and raspy it was nearly inaudible.

A small, yet perfectly sinister smile crossed his face as he feigned confusion, relishing in his victory.

"I'm sorry, what was that," he mocked.

"I'll do it," Danny screamed ,his voice harsh and grating as he stared at his archenemy with a look of utter revulsion.

"That's what I thought. Alright guards, stand down."

Immediately both guards that had surrounded the couple disappeared, the shackles which had once held them in a seemingly permanent bondage simultaneously fell from their positions on the wall with a resounding '_thud_'. As soon as Sam's chains fell, she fled toward her husband, grabbing him in a bone-crushing embrace just as he was about to fall to the ground.

"Danny? Danny wake up," Sam prodded, gently nudging his now unconscious form.

A small smile graced her face as she watched his eyes blur back into focus, meeting her anxious gaze with his own fierce one.

"Sam," Danny whispered, stroking her face tenderly.

"The clock is ticking Daniel; I would go if I were you," came a smooth, and equally sinister voice from above their heads.


	27. At War with a Fruitloop part 1

A/N- Hey guys! I am so sorry, I cannot say sorry enough. Just know that the circumstances leading up to these excessively long delay were completely out of my control. Now I know I said this would be the last chapter, but there is still so much more to come. So hang on to your seats and enjoy!

That was all Sam needed to hear. Still managing to hold her husband upright, she took Kati from the villain's grasp and rushed out the stone door in front of her. Kati began stirring only a few strides later as if she had finally processed all that had happened in the span of a few short minutes. Before long what had started out as only soft gasps quickly evolved into harsh sobs. Sam forced herself to endure them until the villain's castle was merely a speck in her peripheral vision. Then she stopped, and pulled her daughter close, rubbing her back soothingly in an attempt to hush her wracking sobs. A few apprehensive minutes went by and Kati eventually cried herself out, lifting her tear-stained face from Sam's chest just long enough to stare as intently as a toddler could at the man beside her.  
"Daddy," Kati gurgled.  
It was one word, but it was enough to bring bright smiles to both parents' faces. Sam personally could have kicked herself as she became overcome with emotion breathing a prayer of thanks that Danny was able to be there to witness one of their child's milestones.  
"That's right Kati, that's your Daddy," she whispered, her sing-song voice earning a adorable smile from Danny as he leaned in closer to the two, kissing the top of Kati's head before grabbing Sam feebly with his good arm and kissing her sweetly on the lips.  
When they pulled apart, Sam's smile disappeared, replaced with a look of pure worry.

"Danny what were you thinking? Vlad's got more than enough background support that he needs to start a war, it's a death tr—," her voice trailed, cut off as Danny held up his hand.  
"Stop worrying Sam; I have a plan," he retorted smugly.  
Sam's face continued to remain hard, and did not even show the slightest amount of give.  
"I'm going to take this matter to the Observant High Council," Danny continued.  
"They know what Vlad has been doing, maybe we can convince them to help," his voice was hopeful.  
Sam paused for a moment, and then she shrugged in surrender, "I still don't think that they're going to help."  
When Sam looked up several minutes later, she found herself facing another road, and consequently another dilemma. Their only option was to hitchhike, depending on another stranger for rescue. So there they were, just barely on their feet on the side of the road waiting for the next approaching vehicle. As if in answer to their silent prayers, bright white headlights appeared in the distance barreling straight toward the distressed family. For a moment it looked as if they were going to stop then they soared past the clan at impossible speeds nearly knocking them off their feet. Now on the verge of near despair, they continued to stroll along at an understandably strained pace.

This lasted for only half a mile longer before Sam fell over, the rest of her family collapsing around her in a jumbled heap. While Sam and Kati panted and Danny lay writhing with pain, the family laid there for a seemingly endless span of time when yet another pair of piercing headlights broke through the blackness of the night. Barely even having the energy to move they could only sigh as the vehicle whizzed past them just as the first vehicle had. The night wore away and Sam's head merely rolled, scanning their surroundings until her amethyst eyes fell on a small, yet bright light in the distance, the words_ ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE _standing out in an electric neon blue. Spotting the phone set up underneath it, she sluggishly crawled away from her family. Clutching the receiver, she managed to dial Jazz's number. The phone rang, once, twice, three times, and was just about to switch to a recording when someone finally answered her call.

"Jazz, are you there?"

"Sam, where are you? What's going on? What happened? Where's Danny?"

"Okay, in order, where do you think I am? Vlad took us, they fought, and now Danny's down on the side of the road resting with Kati, I don't know if he's seriously injured but I need you to pick us up. But that's not the worst of our problems…" she started, but then thought better of it for the moment.

"What, what's the problem?"

Sam stopped, knowing she was only making Jazz more nervous.

"I tell you when you get here, just hurry."

"Alright, alright," Jazz replied annoyed, then, the line clicked.

After hanging up the phone with a somewhat relieved sigh, Sam trudged back to where the rest of her family lay and found Danny curled protectively around Kati. Despite their dire circumstances, Sam had to smile as she crawled over to join them, curling her own body around Danny's fragile one.

"Jazz will be here soon," she whispered in his ear.

His only response was to turn so he faced her, still holding Kati tightly. Fatigue was still etched in his features, but thankfully the bleeding from his previous wounds had congealed slightly, the moon's mesmerizing light casting an eerie glow on his nearly translucent skin. She wanted so terribly to do something for him, she could clearly see that he was in immense pain, but there was nothing that she could do.

Morning was quickly approaching when another pair of bright headlights shot through the gradually dissolving evening darkness. They whizzed past them, but suddenly stopped in a dead halt and made a U-turn straight toward the clan. As the car got closer, Sam had to squint against the harsh light of the headlights breaking through her tired eyes but once they pulled up right beside the family, only stopping within an inch of them, she was sure that it was Jazz's car. Sure enough, minutes later, Jazz's frazzled form emerged from the vehicle, and approached Sam. Without so much as a word, she carefully scooped her brother up in her arms, and carried him to her car, with Sam following in tow carrying Kati. Not soon enough, they were on the road, heading back home.

Drawling out ever so slowly, the hours passed as the clan rode the various highways and byways toward Jazz's home in absolute silence, which only broke when Danny's snores as he fell asleep became painfully audible, subsiding minutes later. It was then that Jazz did what Jazz usually does best, broke the silence an uncomfortable question; One that had been bugging her ever since she received Sam's distress call.

"What did you need to tell me," her voice was quiet, at first, but then she realized that Sam had been too preoccupied with her daughter to answer, so she tried again, this time raising her voice.

"What did you need to tell me, Sam?"

"Vlad, he, declared war against us, and now Danny has two days to put together an army to fight him, he has to win or he has to become Vlad's slave."

"_Two days? _What are you going to do?"

"We have to go before the Observant High Council, and try to convince them to help."

"And what makes you think that they will?"

"Hey, you're preaching to the choir, but if they were willing to stop Dark Dan, whose creation affected only one town, they have to be willing to stop someone who is becoming a worldwide threat."

At that Jazz was silent, until they once again came upon a familiar driveway. Begrudgingly the family trudged up the steps of the former Fentonworks, Danny, Sam and consequently Kati, stopping as soon as they hit the couch while Jazz began to pace, her method of choice for brainstorming. This continued for several minutes until at last she spoke up.

"It's obvious that we have to talk to Clockwork, there's no way we're getting to the Observants if we don't have his approval first. The question is, how are we going to do that with no way to even get into the Ghost Zone?"

"Well, there _are _natural entrances to the Ghost Zone on Earth if you'll remember; we just have to know where to find them, which is going to be next to impossible without the Infi- Map."

"Wait, didn't he tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Frostbite _gave _Danny the map, two years after...," Jazz's voice drifted uncomfortably.

"Why? Frostbite didn't seem too keen on letting it out of his sight."

"Why do you think, he trusts Danny and he knew that he was going to need to use it often."

"Did Danny ever tell you where he decided to keep it?"

"He has a safety deposit box downtown at the First Union just off of Morris. Come to think of it, I should go get it. Let him know what we're up to," Jazz commanded as she rose from her seat and out the door.

As the hours since Jazz's departure ticked away, Sam became restless. For a majority of the time she sat on the couch, switching back and forth between comforting the distraught Kati and her injured husband. It was a monotonous task; performed, ironically, for the sole purpose of keeping her mind off of their oncoming peril, and it would of worked if it were not for a small noise coming from Danny's direction bringing her to his side once again. His movements were sluggish at first; a mere shrug, an occasional toss, until finally, he nearly shot off the couch, only to slump back down eyes open, staring intensely at Sam, who attempted to calm him down enough to keep him from injuring himself any further. He struggled with her for only a few minutes more, before he finally got his bearings and realized where he was, and then his gaze became puzzled.

"Where's Jazz," he asked when he realized that she was not there.

"She went to get the Infi-Map," Sam replied, forcing down the lump in her throat.

"Oh, so…" his voice trailed as Sam wrapped her arms carefully around him.

"Yes I do, but it doesn't matter. After knowing you this long, I've learned how to not lose it over little things like that," she reassured him, laughing gently.

"Sam, I need you to do me a favor."

The mere tone of his voice was enough to make Sam nervous.

"What?"

"I need you to try not to go after me."

"What do you mean," Sam asked, her fear finally beginning to surface.

"When Jazz comes back, I'm going to find an entrance to the ghost zone, and go, _alone_."

"You can't be serious," Sam was flabbergasted.

"I am."

"Danny, I can't let you do this by yourself, I am coming with you, no arguments."

"Sam you have to, someone has to be there for Kati."

"Yeah, she needs her Dad too."

"Sam, please promise me you won't try to come."

After a long breath she conceded, _outwardly._

"Alright, I promise I won't go after you," she _promised, _secretly vowing that she would follow him no matter what she had to do.

Danny stared at her curiously, wisely noting her doubtful expression, and let it go. The atmosphere was wrought with tension, when the front door suddenly burst open, followed by the ever frazzled Jazz, who had finally returned, carrying a small, sleek silver canister. Closing the door carefully, she solemnly sat down on the couch, handing the canister over to Danny.

"I'd better get going," he nearly whispered, before transforming into Danny Phantom and phasing through the door.

Jumping from the couch, Sam ran after him, throwing the door open, hoping to catch him, but by the time she was out the door he was gone. Dejected to say the least, she sat back down on the couch next to Jazz. Jazz stared at her for a brief moment, before a maniac smile plastered on her face. Sam failed to see the humor in the situation.

"You didn't catch him did you," Jazz asked between stifled giggles.

"No, and I don't think it's very funny either; my husband is out there, about to fight the most important battle of his life and I'm stuck here useless. How on earth is that supposed to be funny_?" _Sam seethed.

"You're right it's not. I guess you never heard what Dad's last invention was."

"I wasn't even there," Sam reminisced, forlornly.

"It was a new and improved Specter- Speeder, which through the help of heat resistant suits, and finisher, and can manage speeds of up to 200-225 miles per hour."

"Was it ever tested?"

"Of course and by some miracle it actually passed. Well, what are you waiting for? Go! I'll watch Kati."

Imparting her unspoken gratitude, Sam ran down to the basement. The lab itself was a mere shadow of its former self. Desolate and broken beakers lay sprayed out on the dusty, cobweb- encased lab tables. As for the Fenton portal, it remained in the same pathetic state it had been in nine years ago, a testament to the ruin of the Fenton family. Over in the corner, Sam found what she had been looking for. This massive ship was at least twice the size of its predecessor, and despite its age, was surprisingly, state-of-the-art. Right next to it, Sam found a closet full of orange and black jumpsuits similar to the OP center uniform Sam had donned all those years ago. After sifting through every outfit, Sam found the one that suited her, put it on and went inside the ship. The ship's interior followed the same format as the first Specter- Speeder the only exceptions being the improved feel, speed capabilities and safety features. Even the flight console was fortunately cut and dry. Just as soon as Sam programmed the coordinates to Clockwork's lair into the computer, the speeder was off automatically.

Within minutes, Sam was approaching Clockwork's tower. It stood in front of her like a menacing mauve figure, and as the speeder stopped Sam felt her resolve just about crumbling. Nevertheless she walked through the chasm-like entrance. Darkness encompassed her on every side, darkness so deep she had to put her hands out in front of her to keep from running into anything. Somewhere above her, she heard the haunting echo of scores of clocks ticking simultaneously. A chill swept involuntarily up her spine.

Her sense of unease only increased when her hand hit something unexpectedly. Something grabbed her arm. Just as she was about to scream hysterically, a hand clamped over her mouth while the one holding her arm turned her roughly around. When she turned, Sam's fearful gaze was met with two eerily lime green eyes. Her fear left her in a sudden rush, it was Danny. At second glance, she was struck by how little of his grip was for the purpose of control and more for support. Weak or not, she knew she was in for it.

"Sam what are you doing here?"

"I couldn't let you fight this battle on your own. Whether you like it or not, we're a team Danny!" Sam took a deep breath, fighting the sob that threatened to rise in her throat.

I left you on your own once and I will _never _forgive myself for doing that to you. Don't ask me to do it again! "

Danny's intense gaze fell instantly, replaced with compassion.

"Alright, stay close. Once the battle begins, I don't want to have to worry about knowing where you are," Danny chided, feigning annoyance.

Sam was not so easily fooled. Even so, they continued to walk together in silence until finally they came upon a familiar room. Various scenes of life played out on the five floating orbs scattered around the room. Standing in front of one of these glowing orbs was the Time Master himself, Clockwork. The mauve cloaked figure changed back from his childlike form as he turned to face the couple, gazing upon them with a startlingly grim compassion.

"I was wondering when you'd show up," he quipped sarcastically.

"Clockwork, I need your help, Vlad has to be stopped."

"He will be, but not by my hand."

"Let me talk to the Observants, Vlad has committed injustices against more than just me."

"Danny, you know as well as I do that the Observants will not permit themselves to meddle with the Time Stream."

"What about Vortex, they didn't consider that meddling," Danny smiled smugly

"I won't stop you Danny, if you want to talk to the Observants, go ahead. Just know that whatever they say, it will not forestall the consequences of what has already been set in motion."

"Maybe not, but I have to try," Danny whispered, grabbing Sam's hand again and walking away toward where he assumed the Observants would be. In the distance he could hear angry shouts of a heated debate. Still counting on his guesswork, he followed them.

Sam could not help the twinge of trepidation that crawled across her skin as they strode into the room. They kept walking, the temperamental Observants nearly oblivious to their presence until they made it to the middle of the room, where the debate's moderator, otherwise know as the Head Observant was seated. Abruptly, an uncomfortable silence descended on the group as they gazed wordlessly at the couple. It was the Head Observant himself who finally discovered he had voice enough to speak.

"Why are you here, Danny Phantom," his question was cold, hiding his hint of concern.

For a moment, Danny shivered, losing a shred of his resolve before he cleared his throat.

"I am here, Sir, to ask for your help," Danny offered respectively.

"With Plasmius I presume?"

Danny nodded.

"I am sorry, truly I am, but seeing as to the fact this council cannot seem to come to an _agreement," _he barked, eying the Observants surrounding him. "I am afraid that there is nothing we can do."

"I understand," Danny conceded before leading Sam out of the room and into the hall.

"So, what's plan B," Sam asked, staring her husband down.

"Gather my allies, and fight Vlad no matter what it takes."

"Where do you suggest we start?"

"We start with the only creature that directly guaranteed he would help me."

"Just like Clockwork _guaranteed _he'd help you," Sam questioned smugly.

"Hey, _Frostbite _is the ruler of the Far Frozen, so I'm pretty sure he won't encounter quite as much reasonable opposition."

"I hope you're right."

"By the way, how did you get here?"

"With your Dad's new and improved Specter Speeder."

"Well, I'd better get going."

"Oh, no, you're not going anywhere. You're coming with me," Sam commanded, grabbing his arm.

"Sam, you and I both know that I can go faster than any one of my Dad's inventions," Danny chided playfully.

"Can you go two hundred and twenty-five miles per hour?"

"Two hundred and twenty-five miles per hour," Danny inquired, his mouth gaping.

Sam nodded.

"You win."


	28. At War with a Fruitloop part 2

Every step became more and more labored than the first as the pair walked back in the direction of the speeder. Even this simple trip had taken significant toll on Danny's already compromised health, which left Sam to wonder how on Earth he would sustain himself in the middle of another battle. Stubborn as ever, she pushed the thought from her mind and trudged on. At long last the speeder drifted into their lines of vision. Reveling that they made it to the cockpit, Sam carefully released her hold on Danny, setting him down in the passenger seat before climbing into the driver seat herself. Methodically, she set the speeder into gear and was just about to take off when a frantic voice coming from outside stopped her. She scanned the outside of the speeder truly concerned as she attempted to locate the source of the disturbance. It was all she could do to not stand there and gape in shock as she saw the Head Observant right outside the window, waving his arms anxiously. Not even ten seconds passed and Sam had shut down the speeder and running out to meet him.

"What's going on," hope leaked through her questioning.

"The Council has changed its mind. In the best interest of both worlds we have decided to assist you in your battle with Plasmius."

"If I may ask, and please don't take this to be disrespectful, but with what?"

"There is much, young woman, that you do not know about the Observant High Council. From the days of the Elders, the Observants have in and of themselves been their own self-sufficient army, and have also held reserves. We are about three hundred in number, but as you may well know, the number is not always what counts."

Now, Sam was sure that she was gaping when as she stared straight at the Head Observant and he started at her awkwardly. Thoroughly embarrassed, she shut her mouth, thanked him and began to walk back to the speeder, a reserved smile now playing on her lips. Danny stared at her quizzically when she entered the cockpit, clueless as to why she could be smiling at a critical time like this. Then understanding brightened his features.

"I'm guessing that was good news, huh?"

"The Observants have agreed to help us, and get this, they are sending along a three hundred member army."

"Let me guess, the descendants of the Elders?"

"Yeah, wait, how did you know?"

"There's no point in fighting an enemy when one doesn't even know their history."

"Good point."

"In the meantime, we still need to talk to Frostbite."

"Yeah, and unfortunately, that's the easy part."

"And it may be easier than you think," Danny smirked. "Map, take us to Frostbite."

Just as the words left his mouth the ship mysteriously roared to life and before the couple even knew what was going on they were nearing the entrance to Frostbite's sub-zero, arctic lair. They were surprised to find that in sharp contrast to just about everything else in their lives, the lair was just about the same as it was the last time that they were there. Icicles still hung from the ceiling of the cave-like space. Slightly embarrassing primeval cave depictions of the various battles that Danny had gone through and won still dotted the worn walls of the cave. For quite a while, they simply focused on staying on their feet and did not notice the overgrown, yeti of a ghost standing in front of them until they nearly collided with him. Normally, this would have been cause for extreme panic for the pair, and an automatic invitation to battle for Danny, but it was nearly impossible not to recognize him by his trademark regal blue sash that was surrounded with battle medals.

"Frostbite, thank God. We need to talk."  
Upon seeing the halfa's sorry state, Frostbite frowned.  
"You are injured, Great One," he stated worriedly, and then he nodded to Sam. "I'll take him to the Medical Facility."  
He then proceeded to scoop Danny up in his strong arms and carry him toward the interior of the cave with Sam following closely behind. For the first half of the surprisingly long journey, Danny attempted to struggle against the gargantuan beast. Of course, he was no match for him in his weakened state, so for the last half of the journey Danny resigned himself and simply lay limply in the creature's arms.  
Towards the very end of the cave they came upon a small room filled with various stasis pods and monitoring machines. The lone attendant that made up the staff of the medical facility was quick to rise when Frostbite made the group's presence known, taking Danny from his arms and taking him to one of them seemingly uncomfortable ice beds, laying out a fur blanket underneath him in an attempt to at least lessen the sting of the ice.  
"What do we have here sir?"  
Frostbite stared at him blankly for a moment, realizing that he did not know what had happened. Sam finally spoke up.  
"Danny was in a fight with Vlad. I'm pretty sure that he's going to have some burns and a few broken bones."  
The attendant nodded understandingly and reached into one of the various drawers beneath the bed and brought out antiseptic and several wads of gauze, casting equipment and a sling. Sam and Danny stared at him strangely; surprised that he would actually have human medical supplies in a ghostly medical facility. He shrugged.  
"You never know when you going to have a human drop by for a visit," he quipped, then proceeded to visually check his injuries.  
"Nearest I can tell he has a dislocated clavicle; his respirations are even, which considering the fact that his heart rate is extremely erratic is an absolute miracle."  
"He has coronary artery disease. It causes his arteries to clog very easily. Sometimes, it can go through kinks so his heart beat is pretty much always irregular," Sam interjected quickly.  
"Other than that those cuts," he stated matter-of-factly, pointing the still visible and pinkish cuts on his body, "are cause for concern, because they are already infected."  
While he lifted Danny's nearly ruined shirt over his head, starting to pour antiseptic over Danny's various wounds, and covering them with several bandages he turned to Sam.  
"Sam, that is your name right," he asked, his voice conveying the urgency of the situation.  
Sam nodded.  
"I'll need you to do me a favor,"  
"Yes?"  
"I'll need you to help me hold him down, this is going to hurt."  
Sam complied reluctantly, wrapping her arms around his head and neck while praying fervently that this maneuver would not hurt him too much. There was a snap as the attendant pulled the bone back into place, accompanying by a heart rending, and air piercing scream from Danny. The attendant, on the other hand, once he was through seemed unaffected as he began to carefully wrap the affected shoulder before setting the entire arm in a sling. Danny whimpered unashamedly in Sam's arms, trying to at least attempt to stifle his sharp sobs in order to preserve his diminishing dignity needlessly.

"Now, I want you to try and abstain from any activity that might hinder your shoulder from healing properly alright? It should heal perfectly in about four to six weeks," the attendant stated matter-of-factly.

At that, Danny's face went pale.

"I can't wait that long. That's what I needed to tell you, Frostbite. Vlad has declared war against me. I have two days to put an army together and fight him or suffer becoming his slave."

Frostbite regarded the young man with solemn concern, and then spoke up.

"Our armies are at your disposal, Great One. I just have to ask you one thing though, where is this battle going to take place?"

"At Vlad's castle in Wisconsin," Danny stated, attempting to rise.

"You're in no position to be moving around young man," the attendant reprimanded.

"I don't have a choice," Danny pointed out, inching his way off of the table, before walking away with Sam following close behind.

The couple sat silently when they finally reached the Speeder, not even bothering to turn it on.

"So, where are we going," Sam finally quipped.

"We have to ask Pandora for help. Maybe her zealous to contain evil will be of some use to us."

Sam nodded, starting the speeder up. Then she caught sight of the clock on the dashboard, they were supposed to be on the battle field in three hours. Apparently, Danny had seen the clock as well, and when he looked up, Sam did not like what she saw. With a stern glance, he sluggishly headed toward the escape hatch at the back of the speeder. Turning back toward Sam, he gave her a half-hearted smile.

"Sam, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to go to Pandora's alone. ."

Sam tried to reach him, but before she could even so much as lay a hand on his foot he was gone. Defeated, she returned to the cockpit, brushing away the stubborn tears that trekked down her face. She reached Pandora's lair minutes later, greeted by a cloud of dust as the speeder landed. When she exited the cockpit, Sam found herself faced with a maze. Chucking slightly at the memory of Danny's terrified description of the place, she entered. Not even ten minutes later she had reached Pandora's Keep. It was much more desolate than Danny had described, and Sam found herself wondering how even a ghost could live there. She did not have time to ponder it though, as she felt a large hand perch on her shoulder, and turn her around. The source of the disturbance was an astoundingly tall, blue- skinned, female ghost who was dressed in the garb of commanding officer of the Roman army. Once the ghost got a good look at Sam, her hardened gaze fell, dissolving into pure compassion.

"I was going to ask you what you were doing here, but I think I already know," she told Sam.

"Pandora, there you are!"

"Yes I am, and you I believe, need my help."

"How did you know that," Sam could not help but ask.

"The entire Ghost Zone has been alight with news of the halfa's impending fight with Plasmius for the past two days. You need not worry, my armies have already been assembled, and they are many."

"Thank you," Sam replied with a rush of relief.

"Think nothing of it; now, if I'm not mistaken, time is running short, shall we depart?"

Again, Sam nodded, walking back toward the speeder.


	29. Lights Down

When she stepped foot outside the cockpit and onto the battlefield hours later, she beheld a gruesome sight. Scores of harsh, ghostly soldiers surrounded Frostbite's vastly depleted army, which was being pushed back by the second. Danny was nowhere in sight. Suddenly snapping her out of her daze, Sam heard Pandora's commanding voice charging her armies into battle; she followed after them moving as though she was in a dream brandishing the Fenton Bazooka that she had hidden underneath her clothes. Hitting the actual battleground was akin to hitting a brick wall, and Sam had to shoot her way through the throng of warriors blasting away any member of Vlad's army who even came close to her. She had almost made it to the middle of the battlefield, when the entire ground began to shake with a force that caused her to fall flat on the ground. Amidst the clamor of the continuing battle, she heard the familiar sound of Danny's haunting, ghostly wail penetrating the entire battleground. Once it had ended, she forced her wobbly legs to walk forward and once she became stable enough, she ran. Danny may have mastered the art of maintaining his ghostly form after a wail years ago, but it still would have weakened Danny severely, leaving him vulnerable to another attack.

Sam felt as though she was encased in sludge as she trudged through the swarm of enemies around her until she finally reached the core of the battle. Within it her husband lay beaten and bruised at the foot of an unscathed and almost tranquil Plasmius whose gaze was venomous as he caught sight of Sam out of the corner of his eye and lunged toward her, nearly pummeling her to the ground. Sudden recognition lit Danny's face when he processed what had happened and he instantly rose, ignoring his limbs' pleas for rest as he attempted to tackle Plasmius and lead him away from Sam. It worked wonderfully. Danny had succeeded so miraculously in garnering Vlad's attention that when Sam rose from her stunned stupor she had to nearly sprint to catch up with them.

Visibility was at a bare minimum as she ran toward the sound of furious ectoplasm blasts singeing the air and she was forced to stride along blindly. From the darkness, she heard an suffering cry resound across the battlefield, accompanied by shouts of victory springing up from Vlad's army. The dust settled and Sam saw Danny once again lying prostrate at Vlad's feet, clutching his side while ectoplasm seeped through his fingers. Vlad smirked with glee, while he watched as Sam ran thoughtlessly for her husband, holding him lightly while she attempted to staunch the flow of ectoplasm amused enough to allow them a moment before he spoke up.

"Our deal Daniel," Vlad asked, showing his wicked grin, as he moved forward feigning on advance on Sam.

Fear flooded Danny's eyes, equally matched by his wife's own panicked expression. Unbeknownst to him however, her fear was not for her own safety,

"Danny, you can't," she cried, desperately trying to reach him.

"I gave him my word."

"Yes, and you wouldn't want to go back on it now, would you," Vlad sneered, moving closer to Sam.

"No," Danny conceded lowly, allowing the soldiers who were now encompassing him on all sides to grab his arms and pull him violently to his feet.

Frostbite and Pandora's armies continued to fight despite the imminent defeat that loomed over them. They fought to the best of their ability, but in the end, it was Vlad's armies that were accepting their surrender. The soldiers surrounding Danny on all sides began to drag him away having already restrained him, but Sam would not allow it. She grabbed him, holding him so tight that even the brawny soldiers could not hold her back. In as much as her embrace had pained Danny, he could not bring himself to ask her to leave just yet; so he allowed her to continue hold him until the soldiers around him began to close in on her, looking as though they were just waiting for Vlad's signal to pounce. His shoulders shifted slightly, trying to get Sam to let go of him, but she still clung to him in sheer terror. The soldier continued to move in , and Danny nodded toward Frostbite, who stood solemnly near the couple. Though the request was wordless, he understood exactly what Danny needed and pried Sam away. Even with his increased strength, he still ended up pulling her away from him finger by finger. The minute she let go of him. Sam's entire body went limp with despair as she surrendered to the strong hold of the snow beast, closing her eyes.

After they had gone a few paces Sam craned her neck to look back on the battlefield. Soldiers from Vlad's army had grabbed her husband's now completely limp body, and each took turns as they kicked him repeatedly in the side. Through it all, Danny was as stubborn and refused to emit a sound, and then they went for his head. With one swift kick, Danny was knocked nearly senseless, allowing a cry of sheer agony to escape unhindered.

At the sound of his voice Sam began to struggle against Frostbite, but in her weakened state he easily overpowered her, and she collapsed once again crying softly to herself. Soon they had reached the speeder, and Frostbite attempted to release her, an endeavor which proved rather difficult for the yeti as she seemed content to simply lie in his furry arms, blocking out the world around her.

"Sam," he whispered, shaking her slightly. "Sam, don't give up. You wouldn't want his sacrifice to be for nothing."

Sam did not answer him and tears continued to trek down her face unchecked. Even though she still felt completely numb, she slinked out of Frostbite's arms, and made it to her feet long enough to see the still open cockpit door. As she moved to close it, she took one last glance at the fateful and now empty battlefield, before closing the door behind her.

THE END


End file.
